
♦ ANIMAL ♦ 
COMPETITORS 

FINEST'- INGRES OLL 




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THE YOUNG FARMER'S PRACTICAL LIBRARY 

EDITED BY ERNEST INGERSOLL 



ANIMAL COMPETITORS 



ERNEST INGERSOLL 



The Young Farmer's Practical 
Library 

EDITED BY ERNEST INGERSOLL 
Cloth i6mo Illustrated each 75 cents net. 

From Kitchen to G-arret. By Virginia 

Terhune Van de Water. 

Neighborhood Entertainments. By Renee 
B. Stern, of the Congressional Library. 

Home Waterworks. By Carleton J. 
Lynde, Professor of Physics in Mac- 
donald College, Quebec. 

Animal Competitors. By Ernest Ingersoll. 

The Farm Mechanic. By L. W. Chase, 
Professor of Farm Mechanics in the 
University of Nebraska. 

The Satisfactions of Country Life. By 

Dr. James W. Robertson, Principal of 
Macdonald College, Quebec. 

Roads, Paths and Bridges. By L. W. 
Page, Chief of the Office of Public 
Roads, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

Health on the Farm. By Dr. L. F. 

Harris, Secretary Georgia State Board 
of Health. 

Electricity on the Farm. By Frederick 
M. Con lee. 

Co-operation Among Farmers. By John 
Lee. Coulter. 




n w 



ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

PROFIT AND LOSS FROM THE WILD 

FOUR-FOOTED TENANTS 

OF THE FARM 



BY 
ERNEST INGERSOLL 

EDITOR OF THE YOUNG FARMER'S PRACTICAL LIBRARY, AND AUTHOR 

OF " THE LIFE OF MAMMALS," " WIT OF THE WILD," 

" WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD," ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED 



Ittew 32orft 

STURGIS & WALTON 

COMPANY 

1911 

All rights reserved 



$v 






Copyright 1911 
By STURGIS & WALTON COMPANY 



Set up and electrotyped. Published April, 1911 



©CLA269699 



INTRODUCTION 

BY THE GENERAL EDITOR 

This is the day of the small book. There is 
much to be done. Time is short. Information 
is earnestly desired, but it is wanted in compact 
form, confined directly to the subject in view, 
authenticated by real knowledge, and, withal, 
gracefully delivered. It is to fulfill these con- 
ditions that the present series has been pro- 
jected — to lend real assistance to those who are 
looking about for new tools and fresh ideas. 

It is addressed especially to the man and 
woman at a distance from the libraries, exhibi- 
tions, and daily notes of progress, which are 
the main advantage, to a studious mind, of liv- 
ing in or near a large city. The editor has had 
in view, especially, the farmer and villager 
who is striving to make the life of himself and 
his family broader and brighter, as well as to 
increase his bank account; and it is therefore 
in the humane, rather than in a commercial di- 
rection, that the Library has been planned. 

v 



vi INTRODUCTION 

The average American little needs advice on 
the conduct of his farm or business; or, if he 
thinks he does, a large supply of such help in 
farming and trading as books and periodicals 
can give, is available to him. But many a man 
who is well to do and knows how to continue 
to make money, is ignorant how to spend it in 
a way to bring to himself, and confer upon his 
wife and children, those conveniences, comforts 
and niceties which alone make money worth 
acquiring and life worth living. He hardly 
realizes that they are within his reach. 

For suggestion and guidance in this direction 
there is a real call, to which this series is an 
answer. It proposes to tell its readers how 
they can make work easier, health more secure, 
and the home more enjoyable and tenacious 
of the whole family. No evil in American rural 
life is so great as the tendency of the young- 
people to leave the farm and the village. The 
only way to overcome this evil is to make rural 
life less hard and sordid; more comfortable and 
attractive. It is to the solving of that problem 
that these books are addressed. Their central 
idea is to show how country life may be made 



INTEODUCTION vii 

richer in interest, broader in its activities and 
its outlook, and sweeter to the taste. 

To this end men and women who have given 
each a lifetime of study and thought to his or 
her speciality, will contribute to the Library, 
and it is safe to promise that each volume will 
join with its eminently practical information a 
still more valuable stimulation of thought. 

Ernest Ingersoll. 



PEEFATOEY NOTE 

The writer could hardly claim much original- 
ity for this book, were he so disposed. His 
aim has not been a literary one, but rather to 
compose a useful handbook of the mammals — 
the wild four-footed tenants — of our American 
farm-lands, from the point of view of the 
agriculturist, orchardist and ranchman. The 
United States Department of Agriculture, 
through its various departments and publica- 
tions, has from time to time issued information 
— vast in its sum — in respect to economic 
zoology; and most of the Agricultural Colleges 
and Experiment Stations in the several States 
have repeated and supplemented this exten- 
sively. The bulk of this proffered matter, how- 
ever, relates to the ravages of injurious insects, 
or to the beauty and usefulness of birds — sub- 
jects which may receive attention in future 
volumes in this Library. 

The economic importance of the mammals — 
ix 



x PEEFATOEY NOTE 

the rats, field-mice, rabbits, gophers, ground- 
squirrels, muskrats, etc.; the fox, the wolves 
and the fur-bearers; the deer and their kin — 
have been appreciated by very few; yet the 
harm done annually by one unchecked class of 
them entails a vast waste, while the benefit 
which might be obtained from another class is 
lost because their lives are little cared for and 
their capabilities for profitable exploitation al- 
most wholly neglected. 

It is hoped that this book will lead to a re- 
versal of this wasteful and negligent state of 
affairs; and that by its help the farmer's 
friends among the wild animals about him may 
be encouraged and his foes subdued. Thus the 
account of the agriculturist with his four- 
footed competitors may be changed from a need- 
lessly heavy balance on the loss side, to one of 
profit, reckoned partly in savings and partly in 
"new business." 

My sources of statistical information, espe- 
cially for the West, have been largely reports 
of investigations conducted by the Biological 
Survey. These reports, it is true, have been 
widely distributed during the past ten years, 



PBEFATORY NOTE xi 

but they have gone out as chapters in forbid- 
ding public documents, or else separately in 
loose pamphlets which in most cases have been 
speedily lost. It is impracticable for the or- 
dinary man to get copies of them now if he 
tries, and their usefulness has therefore come 
to an untimely end. Among them are original 
and valuable essays by Dr. C. Hart Merriam, 
Chief of the Biological Survey until his resig- 
nation in 1910, when H. W. Henshaw succeeded 
to his office; Vernon Bailey, the assistant in 
charge of field investigations ; David E. Lantz, 
Wilfred H. Osgood, E. W. Palmer, Stanley EL 
Piper, E. W. Nelson, Edward A. Goldman, and 
others attached to the Department. 

Knowing the accuracy and importance of this 
half-lost material, and also aware that nothing 
better could be furnished in its stead, I have 
not hesitated to make liberal use of it, often 
in its own well-chosen language. It was writ- 
ten for the benefit of the public ; and I am con- 
fident the gentlemen above mentioned will 
gladly see it renew its usefulness in the per- 
manent form a bound book affords, and rejoice 
in the greater force their facts and recommen- 



xii PREFATORY NOTE 

dations will obtain by being associated in an 
orderly array. To them belongs credit for 
the larger part of the facts presented in the 
pages that follow. I have simply arranged and 
enforced the material anew in the most suitable 
form I could devise. 

Attention may be called, further, to one novel 
feature in the book, namely, the detailed in- 
structions as to the cultivation of certain wild 
animals in captivity as an industry. Among 
those recommended for this purpose are the 
deer, for sale alive to parks, and to furnish 
venison to market; the muskrat for food and 
skins; the silver fox for its costly pelt, and 
such other fur-bearers as the mink and skunk. 
All over the country young men are so situated 
as to be able to add one or more of these enter- 
prises to their year's work, and to derive from 
them an attractive addition to the annual in- 
come, while contributing in no small degree to 
the general wealth and welfare of the country. 




New York, Jan. 1, 1911. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 
The Pest of Rats 

PAGE 

Varieties of rats — Cost of their board — Destructiveness — 
Carriers of disease — Breeders of bubonic plague — Pre- 
cautions and suppression — Need of cooperation . . 3 

CHAPTER II 

The Pantry Mouse 

Dancing mice — Rapid increase — Carrying diseases — Musi- 
cal mice 37 

CHAPTER III 

The Meadow-mouse and its Mischief 

American voles — Prairie-mice and Pine-mice — Multiplica- 
tion into plagues — Prevention of plagues — Damage to 
crops considered — Protection of young trees ... 48 

CHAPTER IV 

Profit from the Muskrat 

Damage by muskrats — Excellence of muskrat flesh — Fur 
in demand — Methods of trapping — Cultivation of 
muskrats 76 

CHAPTER V 

Can the Beaver be Saved? 

Possibilities and difficulties of rearing captive beavers . 94 

xiii 



xiv CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VI 
Wood-rats, Pack-rats, Cotton-rats, etc. 

PAGE 

Habits and architecture of wood-rats — Pilfering extraor- 
dinary — Destruction by the cotton-rat — Jumping-mice 
— Kangaroo-rats, etc 98 

CHAPTER VII 

The Gray Gophers 

Characteristics — Burrowing powers — Injury to crops and 
young trees — Boring in ditch-banks — Gophers as soil- 
makers 112 

CHAPTER VIII 

Squirrels, Good and Bad 

Habits- • and food of red squirrels — Winter storage of 

food — Larger squirrels — The flying-squirrel . . . 125 

CHAPTER IX 

Ground-squirrels and Prairie-dogs 

Chipmunks and their homes — Striped gophers and spermo- 
philes — Ground-squirrels as carriers of disease — 
Prairie-dogs 144 

CHAPTER X 

Rabbits, Useful and Injurious 

Rabbit-flesh good food — Breeding habits — Damage to gar- 
dens and orchards — Protection of trees — Pet stock . 164 

CHAPTER XI 

Suppression of Rodents as Pests 

Unwise destruction of natural enemies — Poisoning and 

Fumigation — Difficulties to be overcome . . . .184 



CONTENTS xv 

CHAPTER XII 
Moles, Shrews and Bats 

PAGE 

Moles misunderstood — Trapping moles and shrews — Bats 

and their guano deposits .' 194 

CHAPTER XIII 

Foxes and Fox-farming 

American foxes — Varieties of fox-fur — Arrangement of a 
fox-rearing establishment — Care of captive foxes — Im- 
proving the stock 206 

CHAPTER XIV 

Gray Wolves and Coyotes 

Wolf traits — Good and bad food-habits — The coyote a pest 
to sheep-ranches — Directions for fencing .... 232 

CHAPTER XV 

The Fur-bearers and their Culture 

North American fur-bearers — Ermine weasels — The weasel 
as a mouser — Value of the mink — Rearing minks in 
captivity — The otter, badger and skunk — Skunk-farm- 
ing 242 

CHAPTER XVI 

Raising Deer for Profit 

Native deer — Domestication and breeding — Venison and 

buckskin — Wild horses, bighorn, antelopes, etc. . . 273 

CHAPTER XVII 

Directions for Poisoning and Trapping 

Waste of effort and money — Formulas for preparing ani- 
mal poisons — Trapping in various ways and places . 288 



ANIMAL COMPETITOES 



ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

CHAPTER I 
THE PEST OF RATS 

We have in the United States three foreign 
rats, all injurious to health and property. 

1. The brown house-rat (Mus norvegicus), 
called also gray rat, house-rat, barn-rat, 
wharf-rat and Norway rat, and, in England, 
Hanoverian rat. Its average total length is 
about 16.4 inches, of which 7 inches belongs to 
the tail, and it usually weighs less than a pound, 
though specimens have been known so much 
larger as to weigh 24 to 28 ounces. The gen- 
eral color is grayish-brown above and whitish 
below, the long overhairs of the back having 
black tips. The head is shorter, the muzzle 
more blunt, the ears smaller and the tail rela- 
tively shorter than in the other species. It is 

3 



4 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

spread all over the continent, except the Utah 
basin. 

2. The black rat (Mus rattus), smaller than 
the brown rat, and sooty or slaty black, paler 
on the under parts. Like the brown rat, it 
is of Oriental origin and seems to have pre- 
ceded the former in its immigration into 
western Europe and thence to this continent. 
It was carried from Europe to Spanish Amer- 
ica about three and a half centuries ago, and 
thence spread northward to the English col- 
onies. Upon the arrival of the brown rat in 
North America toward the end of the 18th 
century it began to decrease, and is now rare, 
surviving only in scattered colonies, but re- 
main numerous in many parts of the West 
Indies, Middle and South America, Hawaii, 
etc. 

3. The roof -rat (Mus alexandrinus ) , simi- 
lar to the brown rat in form and habits, but 
grayer above, and yellowish white on the feet 
and abdomen. Its history is much like that of 
the black rat, but it has held its own better 
against the dominance of the brown rat, in- 
habits sea-going ships, and has established 



THE PEST OF EATS 5 

itself in all the warmer parts of the world. It 
is still prevalent in our South Atlantic States, 
in the West Indies and in South America. The 
tame white rats sold as pets are mostly of this 
and the black species. 

In habits these three rats are similar, with 
the important exception that the black rat and 
the roof-rat (which some zoologists consider 
merely varieties of one species), do not bur- 
row under foundations, etc., as does the brown 
rat. On the other hand they are far more 
agile and addicted to climbing, — a decided ad- 
vantage in the tropics where a large part of 
their food is obtained from trees, in whose 
branches they frequently lodge their nests ; and 
are less able to withstand cold than the brown 
rat, which survives arctic winters in whaling 
ships, apparently without distress. They are 
also less prolific, having only ten mammae to 
the brown rat's twelve, and bearing on the 
average only about five young at a birth to the 
other's eight. This difference in prolificacy 
alone would account for the great dominance 
of the brown rat, at least in North America; 
and it is to that species — the rat, par excellence 



6 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

— that we devote our attention in considering 
the relation it bears to human welfare, espe- 
cially on the farm. 

"The rat," says Lantz, succinctly, "is the 
worst mammalian pest known to man. Its 
depredations throughout the world result in 
losses amounting to hundreds of millions of 
dollars annually. But these losses, great as 
they are, are of less importance than the fact 
that rats carry from house to house and from 
seaport to seaport the germs of the dreaded 
plague." 

This enormous evil can be cured only by be- 
ing prevented ; and it is not only to the personal 
interest of every man, but a part of his public 
duty, to do all in his power to stamp out a pest 
which is not only costing the country many 
millions of dollars in damages annually, but is 
constantly threatening each of us with horrid 
diseases. 

History, In order to destroy the rats we 
have, and to guard against their increase 
on our own premises, at least, we must become 
acquainted with the haunts and habits of the 
animal. 



THE PEST OF RATS 7 

The early history of the brown rat is prac- 
tically unknown. Various modern writers have 
asserted that it came originally from Persia 
or India; but W. T. Blanford, a leading zoolo- 
gist of British India, states that it is at pres- 
ent unknown in Persia, and that, as concerns 
India, the black rat is the generally distributed 
species, while the brown rat is found only 
along the coast and the navigable rivers. This 
seems to imply that the latter is a compara- 
tively recent immigrant into India; and other 
evidence seems to show that its original home 
was northward of the Himalayan ranges. Its 
resistance to cold supports this hypothesis. 
It seems to have entered Europe first by cross- 
ing the Volga into Eussia in hunger-driven 
hordes in 1727, but it reached England from 
some eastern port a year or two later, coinci- 
dent with the accession of George I to the 
British throne. The general, but erroneous, be- 
lief in Great Britain that it was introduced 
from Norwegian timber-ships gives it the name 
" Norway' ' rat there, as I explained in my Life 
of Mammals. "It reached our eastern ports in 
1775 and was popularly credited to the hated 



8 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

Hessian soldiers, — a queer echo of the London 
idea that it came there with the Hanoverian 
train of the present reigning house. By 1830 
it had reached the Mississippi, and by 1857, 
at least, was numerous in California." Now 
no part of the country save the western deserts 
is free from these pests ; and competent judges 
estimate their numbers as at least five times 
that of the human population, with which they 
more than keep pace as widening civilization 
more and more favors their support and in- 
crease. 

Fecundity of the rat. A consequence is that 
from time to time there is an overflow of rats 
from one locality or region to another which 
gives us a glimpse of the unseen crowd in the 
midst of which we live. "In 1903, a multi- 
tude of migrating rats spread over several 
counties of western Illinois. They were no- 
ticed especially in Mercer and Eock Island 
counties. For several years prior to this in- 
vasion no abnormal numbers were seen, and 
their coming was remarkably sudden. An eye- 
witness to the phenomenon informed the writer 



THE PEST OF RATS 9 

that as lie was returning to his home by moon- 
light he heard a general rustling in the field 
near by, and soon a vast army of rats crossed 
the road in front of him, all going in one direc- 
tion. The mass stretched away as far as could 
be seen in the dim light. These animals re- 
mained on the farms and in the villages of 
the surrounding country, and during the winter 
and summer of 1904 were a veritable plague. 
A local newspaper stated that between March 20 
and April 20, 1904, Mr. F. U. Montgomery of 
Preemption, Mercer county, killed 3,435 rats 
on his farm." 

This enormous multiplication is due to the 
animal's adaptability to climate, its omnivo- 
rousness, its habit of burrowing, its strength 
and cunning in withstanding and outwitting 
enemies, and, most of all, to its astonishing 
fecundity, especially where food is abundant. 

This rat breeds in the temperate parts of this 
country from three to five times a year, the 
female bringing forth each time from 6 to 20 
young. Mr. Lantz concludes from such data 
as are available that in the vicinity of Wash- 



10 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

ington the average litter is 10. A pair and 
their progeny breeding three times a year 
would, thus, if all remained alive, produce a 
population of more than 20,000,000. "Of 
course, such results never occur in nature. 
Apparently not nearly half the rats born are 
females ; at least, among mature rats the males 
greatly predominate. Then, too, the life of 
young rats, as well as that of the old, is a con- 
tinuous struggle for existence. Disease, the 
elements, natural enemies, the devices and cun- 
ning of man, and even cannibalism are contin- 
ually at work to reduce their numbers. ? ' 

The young are born, after a gestation period 
of 21 days, in a burrow dug in the ground under 
buildings, piles of lumber or wood, beneath 
strawstacks, etc., or simply bored into a stream- 
bank. They are naked and blind at birth, but 
develop with great rapidity. 

What it costs to board our rats. The dam- 
age done by rats over so great an area as 
the United States or Canada, is incalculable. 
David E. Lantz, in the document from which 
I am quoting freely, summarizes their destruc- 
tion thus: 



THE PEST OF EATS 11 

"The brown rat is practically omnivorous. The 
statement applies as well to the black rat and the 
roof rat. Their bill of fare includes seeds and grains 
of all kinds, flour, meal, and food products made 
from them; fruits and garden vegetables; mush- 
rooms; bark of growing trees; bulbs, roots, stems, 
leaves, and flowers of herbaceous plants ; eggs, chicks, 
ducklings, young pigeons, and young rabbits; milk, 
butter, and cheese; fresh meat and carrion; mice, 
rats, fish, frogs, and mussels. This great variety of 
food explains the ease with which rats adapt them- 
selves to almost every environment. 

"Experiments show that the average quantity of 
grain consumed by a full-grown rat is fully 2 ounces 
daily. A half-grown rat eats about as much as an 
adult. Fed on grain, a rat eats 45 to 50 pounds a 
year, worth about 60 cents if wheat, or $1.80 if oat- 
meal. Fed on beefsteaks worth 25 cents a pound, 
or on young chicks or squabs with a much higher 
prospective value, the cost of maintaining a rat is 
proportionately increased. Granted that more than 
half the food of our rats is waste, the average cost 
of keeping one rat is still upward of 25 cents a 
year. 

"If an accurate census of the rats of the United 
States were possible, a reasonably correct calculation 
of the minimum cost of feeding them could be made 
from the above data. If the number of rats sup- 
ported by the people throughout the United States 
were equal to the number of domestic animals on the 
farms — horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs — the minimum 



12 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

cost of feeding them on grain would be upward of 
$100,000,000 a year. To some such enormous total 
every farmer, and indeed every householder who has 
rats upon his premises, contributes a share. 

"But the actual depredations of rats are by no 
means confined to what they eat. They destroy fully 
as much grain as they consume, and they pollute and 
render unfit for human consumption a much larger 
proportion of all other food materials that they at- 
tack. In addition, the damage they do to property 
of other kinds is often as great as that done to food 
supplies. ' ' 

Destructiveness of rats in the fields. The 
rat in America is usually thought of as vermin 
in the house and barn, so that little notice is 
taken of its destructiveness in the fields which 
Europeans understand very well. Cultivated 
grains may be regarded as the favorite food. 
The animals dig the seed from the ground as 
soon as sown, eat the tender sprouts when they 
appear, and later feast upon the maturing crop. 
After harvest they attack grain in shock, stack, 
and mow, and when thrashing is over, in crib, 
granary, elevator, mill, and warehouse. In- 
dian corn seems especially to suffer from their 
depredations. They climb the stalks and strip 
the cobs of the milky kernels; and if cut corn 



THE PEST OF RATS 13 

is left in shocks, especially near drains or other 
rat-harbors, it is likely to be ruined. 

Shortly after the settlement of the Bermudas by 
the British, the colony was infested with rats, which, 
in the space of two years, had increased so alarm- 
ingly that none of the islands were free from them, 
and even fish were taken with rats in their bellies. 
A writer in the Academy recalls some of the horrors 
of this plague of rats. The rats, we are told, had 
nests in almost every tree, and burrowed in most 
places in the ground like rabbits. They devoured 
everything that came in the way — fruits, plants, and 
even trees. Where corn was sown they would come by 
troops in the night and scratch it out of the ground ; 
'nay,' writes a contemporary chronicler, 'they so de- 
voured the fruits of the earth that the people were des- 
titute of bread for a year or two.' Every expedient 
was tried to destroy them. Dogs were trained to hunt 
them, who would kill a score or more in an hour. 
Cats, both wild and tame, were employed in large 
numbers for the same purpose; poisons and traps — 
every man having to set twelve traps — were brought 
into requisition; and even woods were set on fire, to 
help to exterminate them. Every letter written at 
this period by the plague-stricken colonists contains 
some account of the dreadful scourge. 'Our great 
enemies the rats threaten the subversion of the plan- 
tation,' writes one colonist in July, 1616. 'Rats are a 
great judgment of God upon us,' wrote another a 
year later. 'At last it pleased God, but by what 



14 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

means is not well known, to take them away, inso- 
much that the wild cats and many dogs that lived 
on them were famished.' There was universal joy at 
the sudden removal of such destructive vermin; and 
the all but despairing planters were enabled once 
more to resume their neglected occupations with spirit 
and energy. 

Much more recently, rats became such a plague 
in the sugar-plantations of the West Indies, and 
especially in Jamaica, that the East Indian mungoos — 
a fierce, weasel-like civet — was introduced. This ani- 
mal cleared out the rats, but speedily became in other 
directions such a nuisance that its destruction had 
to be effected in order to save the poultry and birds 
of the Island. 

Eats often damage corn in cribs. Too fre- 
quently these receptacles for grain are built 
close to the ground, and rats live under the 
floor, and soon get access to the grain. They 
shell the corn, eating the softer part of the 
kernel and wasting much more than they con- 
sume. They carry the grain to subterranean 
burrows and bring up into the crib moist soil, 
which induces mold. Similarly they eat the 
small grains in the field and take toll of the 
granary and feed-box, — often 5 to 10 per cent. 



THE PEST OF RATS 15 

of feedstuff s, malt and the like; while no pest 
of the sugar-cane is much more to be feared. 

The damage done by rats to fruits and vege- 
tables while stored in cellars and pits is well 
known. They attack ripe tomatoes, melons, 
cantaloupes, squashes, pumpkins, sweet corn, 
and many other vegetables in the field, and the 
depredations are often attributed to rabbits. 
Rats are fond of nearly all small fruits, even 
climbing grape-vines, blackberry-canes, and 
currant-bushes to obtain the ripe fruit; and 
often feed upon ripe apples, pears, cherries, 
and so forth. 

Rats are recognized pests of the greenhouse 
and the plant-propagating pit, where they at- 
tack seeds, bulbs, leaves, stems and flowers. 
Of flowering bulbs the tulip suffers most and 
hyacinths also are eaten, while narcissus bulbs 
are apparently immune to attack. Carnations 
seem especially liable to destruction. 

Bestructiveness to poultry and game. Very 
serious is the loss due to rats entering badly 
constructed hen and pigeon houses, — probably 
greater, in Mr, Lantz's opinion, than that in- 



16 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

dieted by foxes, minks, weasels, skunks, hawks 
and owls combined; but mostly one or all of 
these are made to take the blame. 

"Not long since, in a published account of depre- 
dations on poultry, the damage was attributed to a 
skunk. The statement was made that both eggs and 
young chicks were taken from under a sitting hen 
without disturbing her. This is a trick peculiar to 
the rat, and it is evident that a mistake was made 
as to the identity of the thief. 

"Where rats are numerous in springtime, they 
often prey upon young chicks, capturing them in the 
nest and in and around the coops. I have known 
them to take nearly all the chicks on a large poultry 
ranch, and, in the same neighborhood and over a 
large territory, to destroy nearly 50 per cent, of the 
season's hatching. Young ducks, turkeys, and pi- 
geons are equally liable to attack, and where rats are 
numerous are safe only in rat-proof coops. 

"A writer in a western agricultural paper states 
that in 1904 rats robbed him of an entire summer's 
hatching of three or four hundred chicks. A cor- 
respondent of another journal says, 'Eats destroyed 
enough grain and poultry on this place in one season 
to pay our taxes for three years.' When it is re- 
membered that the poultry and eggs produced each 
year from the farms of the United States have a 
value of over $600,000,000, it will be seen that even 
a small percentage of loss aggregates a large sum." 



THE PEST OF RATS 17 

In Europe the rat is the bane of gamekeepers 
who try to preserve broods of pheasants and 
other game. Our wild game-birds are less 
molested and perhaps better able to protect 
themselves; yet our grouse and quail must 
suffer, for rats eat the eggs of ground-nesting 
song-birds, but the real offender is seldom even 
suspected. 

Rats often gnaw the hoofs of horses until 
the feet bleed. Brushing the hoofs with dilute 
carbolic acid is a preventive. They have been 
known to kill young lambs and pigs, and to at- 
tack very fat hogs and eat holes in their bodies, 
causing death. Farrowing sows have been 
killed by rats gnawing their teats until blood 
poisoning resulted. 

Rats damage buildings and stored goods. 
Interest in the damage done to stored goods 
and merchandise belongs more to the city ware- 
houseman than to the countryman, but the 
latter is well aware that old harness and gear 
of all sorts with leather about it, any grain- 
bags and similar articles must be protected 
from rats. Damage to houses and barns is, 



18 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

however, a matter of grave interest to inhabit- 
ants of the village as well as of the city. Quot- 
ing Lantz again, — 

"The damage to houses and furniture by rats con- 
stitutes a large item. They burrow under founda- 
tions or through the plaster in a stone wall and 
admit streams of water that eventually weaken or 
undermine the structure itself. They seem to be 
able to penetrate almost everything except stone, 
brick, cement, glass, and iron. They gnaw into a 
grain bin, or through a wainscoting, a floor, or a door 
in a single night In the same way they enter chests, 
wardrobes, bookcases, closets, barrels, and boxes for 
the stores within. Almost every old dwelling in the 
country bears abundant evidence of its former or 
present occupancy by rats. Rats gnaw through lead 
pipes or wooden tanks to obtain water, and sometimes 
before the leak is discovered, ceilings, wall decora- 
tions, and floor coverings are flooded and practically 
mined. All this is waste of a tangible kind and a 
constant drain on the prosperity of the people." 

Then there is the ever-menacing devastation 
from fires due to rats carrying matches into 
their nests and there igniting them by chewing 
them, or simply by overheating ; or due to their 
gnawing the insulation from electric wires — a 
surprisingly frequent origin of fires of late 
years. 



THE PEST OF RATS 19 

Rats as carriers of disease. Finally, rats are 
always a menace to health, and may become 
the agents of the dissemination of the most 
dreadful and virulent of diseases — the Asiatic 
plague, which has more than once decimated 
the civilized world. It has been calculated that 
25,000,000 of persons perished in an epidemic 
of this character which swept over the world 
in the 14th century; and it did not require the 
literary genius of a De Foe to perpetuate the 
memory of the awful visitation which almost 
depopulated London and set all Europe in 
mourning toward the end of the 16th century. 
Even then, in the cloud of mystery, supersti- 
tion and horror of fear which made most men 
blind and helpless, the truth was dimly recog- 
nized by a few, — namely that it was not the 
wrath of God nor the malignancy of some evil 
spirit nor a miasm from earth or sea that 
struck men down, but the communication of 
disease from the sick to the well. This, it was 
observed, could be effected not only by contact 
with human victims, but that the contagion was 
caught and passed on by all the small animals 
about a house. Hence orders were issued that 



20 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

not only rats, mice, and small vermin of all 
sorts should be killed, but also dogs and cats. 
An ordinance by the authorities at Winchester, 
England, in 1583, is typical of many others 
issued in British towns, viz. : 

"That if any house within this cytie shall happen 
to be infected with the Plague, that thene every per- 
sone to keepe within his or her house every his or 
her dogg, and not to suffer them to goo at large. 
And if any dogge be then founde at large, it shall 
be lawful for the Beadle or any other person to kill 
the same dogg, and that any owner of such dogg 
going at large shall lose six shillings." 

Among the records of King's Lynn, under 
May, 1585, appears this: 

"For as muche as it hath pleased Allmightie God 
to begynn to send us his visitacion with sickness 
amongst us, and that dogges and cattes are thought 
verie unfitt to be suffered in this tyme. Therefore 
Mr. Maior, aldermen, and common councell have or- 
dered and decreed that every inhabitant within the 
same Towne shall forthwith take all their dogges and 
yappes and hange them or kill them and carrye them 
to some out-place and burye them for breadings of a 
great annoyance. And likewise for cattes, if there be 
any nigh unto any house or houses visited with sick- 
ness. ... It is ordered that the cattes shall furth- 
with be killed in all such places. ' ' An exception was 



THE PEST OF RATS 21 

made in favor of any "dogge of aceompte. " Such 
a one was allowed to be kept if "kenelled or tied 
up or led in a lease." 

As often happens, a fact was clearly per- 
ceived and acted upon beneficially long before 
the philosophy of it was comprehended. 

Rats responsible for the plague. It was 
not until the very end of the last century — 
scarcely a dozen years ago, that the suspected 
truth of the real nature of the plague was dis- 
covered through scientific studies of the disease 
which then appeared in a most threatening 
form in India. It was determined that of the 
several phases of plague the most common is 
that which produces swellings or " buboes' ' 
on the body of the victim, and hence is called 
bubonic plague. This is rarely communicated 
direct from man to man, but through the me- 
dium of insects which suck the patient's blood 
and then, filled with the diseased blood in which 
are floating the deadly bacilli (Bacillus pestis) 
which produce the disturbance, pierce the skin 
of some other creature and leave more or less 
of these plague-germs in the puncture. 

Any blood-sucking bug, as, for example, the 



22 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

bed-bug, may do this ; but the most common 
agent is the flea. 

Another fact is that the rat seems especially 
susceptible to the disease ; arid, indeed, it is be- 




MOUTH-PARTS OF A RAT-FLEA, SHOWING WHERE BACILLI MAY 
CLING AND BE CARRIED INTO THE NEXT WOUND. 

From Doane's "Insects and Disease." By Permission of Henry 
Holt & Co. 

lieved that it was originally a disease of this 
rodent. Rats abound m fleas, and, as is the 
case with most furry or feathered animals, 
have a species peculiar to their race. This 



THE PEST OF RATS 23 

rat-flea will bite and communicate the disease 
from rat to rat, and an outbreak of plague 
among men is usually preceded by an epidemic 
among the rats. The rat-flea does not bite 
man; but those which live on human beings 
will thrive on rats and may return from an in- 
fected rat to a human host if opportunity offers. 
The fleas of dogs and cats will temporarily live 
on the skin of both rodents and human beings, 
and may thus take a part in the transmission 
of plague. The fleas usually leave a rat or 
other animal as soon as it dies, and, with their 
stomachs full of plague-bacilli, with others 
clinging to their proboscis and sucking lips, 
they seek new hosts. The new host, whether 
rat, or some other animal, or perchance a 
human being, is soon bitten with these infected 
mouths, and thus receives the germs of the 
malady. 

Those who wish to pursue the study of this 
matter in further detail will find a very full 
exposition of it, and of the general relations of 
insects to common diseases, in R. W. Doane's 
Insects and Disease (New York, Holt, 1910). 



24 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

It is now understood that the first thing to 
do when a case of plague is brought to some 
port in a ship sailing from the Orient is to 
exterminate the rats of the locality; and the 
best preventive against this and other afflictions 
getting a foothold anywhere, is to keep the rats 
down. The Japanese were quick to take ad- 
vantage of the new knowledge, and by the fierce 
crusade they waged against the wharf-rats in 
their ports prevented a spread of bubonic 
plague, always threatening them, in the armies 
they sent into Manchuria. In this way, too, by 
a vigorous crusade against the animal in Cali- 
fornia, in which many hundreds of thousands 
were trapped or poisoned, the plague was re- 
cently eradicated in San Francisco before it 
had reached alarming proportions. 

Rats and trichina. But rats disseminate 
diseases other than bubonic plague. Trich- 
inosis among swine is probably perpetuated 
entirely by rats, since trichinae in the hog can 
result only from its eating the flesh of animals 
infested with the parasite. The only two an- 
imals of the farm known to be subject to this 



THE PEST OF EATS 25 

parasite are the rat and the hog itself. Pork 
becomes trichinous, then, only when swine eat 
the flesh of infected rats or hogs. Country 
slaughter-houses, where rats are abundant and 
swine are fed on offal, are the chief sources of 
trichinous pork. That the danger from this 
source has not been confined to the rural 
slaughtering-places alone, is shown by the in- 
vestigation conducted by the Biological Survey 
in 1909 into the "rat-nuisance," said to exist 
about the great packing-houses in Chicago and 
St. Louis. The older establishments were 
found to be infested with rats, causing a se- 
rious aggregate loss, and endangering both the 
health of the workmen and the wholesomeness 
of the product; but this state of things has 
been greatly improved, and new buildings are 
designed to be rat-proof. 

Rats creep through drains and step about 
in all sorts of filth; and to their feet and fur 
clings slime which may be loaded with germs 
of typhoid, diptheria and any other of the 
malignant list of diseases due to bacilli that 
develop in darkness and filth. Consequently 



26 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

no household is safe into which rats may wan- 
der and leave the seeds of disease brought from 
the gutter. 

In view of these facts it would seem impor- 
tant that every man should attempt to free his 
property of these undesirable tenants, which, 
so far as we can see, make no return whatever 
for the damage and depredation of which they 
are guilty. 

Methods of suppression. It is perhaps too 
late to get rid of the rat altogether, but it is 
not too late to subdue him and prevent a great 
part of the evils that follow his presence. 
How shall it be done! ' 

First, try to destroy or drive away those rats 
you have. Seek out their holes, runways and 
lodging-places, clean them out and stop them 
up so far as you are able. The cunning of 
the rascals is great and they will shift their 
quarters or invent new means of access and 
ways of attack with discouraging ingenuity 
and persistence, which you must endeavor to 
match. Untiring watchfulness and work will 
win. 

Trapping, if intelligently pursued, will cap- 



THE PEST OF RATS 27 

ture a great many. The old-fashioned figure-4 
trap, dropping a box, or better, a deadfall, is 
often highly effective. Several sorts of steel 
traps may be nsed to advantage; and in the 
last chapter of this book will be fonnd descrip- 
tions of various forms and directions for bait- 
ing and setting them. 

Poisoning will clear ont the creatures more 
rapidly and effectively but can hardly be used 
except about barns and out-buildings, and even 
there should be done intelligently and with cer- 
tain precautions. Therefore instructions as to 
the best means and methods of poisoning will 
also be found in the last chapter. 

While endeavoring to kill off the rats by 
these various methods, precautions should be 
taken against their return. Their runways 
and harboring places must be sought out and 
made untenable. The wisdom of stopping up 
all holes by which they enter houses, barns or 
cellars, need hardly be mentioned to common- 
sense readers. Freshly slaked lime placed in 
their dry burrows and runs is effective; or 
fresh thin whitewash to be poured into them. 
A strong solution of copperas is good, and gas- 



28 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

tar daubed about their holes, as also is caustic 
potash. Where burrows are discovered in 
banks or fields the inmates may be suffocated 
by pushing into the holes wads of rags satu- 
rated with bisulphide of carbon, as is practiced 
against gophers; but this is of little use in 
buildings, for it escapes too easily. 

Rat-proof construction. All new or recon- 
structed buildings should be made rat-proof. 
This is best done by the use of cement. Even 
then, when foundations and walls are made of 
tight concrete, care must be taken lest drains 
and other openings admit them. Outer doors, 
especially those that give upon alleys, should 
not be left open. Basement and cellar win- 
dows of barns, stables, chicken-houses, etc., 
should be screened with wire, so that they may 
be left ajar for ventilation without danger. 
Inner doors to vestibules are of great assist- 
ance. Even old cellars may be made rat-proof 
by the use of cement at small expense. 

When wooden walls are built upon proper 
foundations, the building may be made proof 
against these and other noxious visitors by 



THE PEST OF EATS 29 

filling the space between the sheathing and the 
lath for about a foot with concrete. 

Eats frequently enter houses from sewers by 
way of soil-pipes leading into water-closets, but 
this can be guarded against by care in construc- 
tion and the use of water-traps. 

"Almost everywhere, in country, village, and city, 
the wooden floors of sidewalks, areas, and porches 
are commonly laid upon timbers resting upon the 
ground. Under these floors rats are safe from most 
of their enemies. Only municipal action can com- 
pletely remedy these conditions, but all such rat-har- 
bors should be destroyed and replaced by cement 
floors. Considering durability, healthfulness, and 
other advantages, this material is the cheapest that 
can be used. The floors of wooden porches should 
always be well above the ground. Eats often under- 
mine brick walks or areas. 

"Granaries, corncribs, and poultry-houses may be 
made rat-proof by a liberal use of concrete in the 
foundations and floors; or the floors may be of wood 
resting upon concrete. Objection has been urged 
against the use of concrete floors for horses, cattle, 
and poultry, because the material is too good a con- 
ductor of heat, and the health of the animals suffers 
from contact with floors of this kind. In poultry- 
houses, dry soil or sand may be used as a covering 
for the cement floor; and in stables, a wooden floor 



30 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

resting on the concrete is just as satisfactory so far 
as the exclusion of rats is concerned." 

Keeping food from rats. The general rat- 
proofing of buildings is the most important step 
in limiting the food supply of rats. The effect 
of an abundance of food on the breeding of 
rodents has already been mentioned. Well-fed 
rats mature quickly, breed often, and have large 
litters of young. Besides limiting reproduc- 
tion, scarcity of food will make the measures 
to destroy the animals by traps, poisons, or 
bacterial cultures far more effective. But 
since much of the animals' food consists of 
garbage and other waste materials, offal of any 
kind must be so disposed of that rats can not 
obtain it. The best method is by burning it. 
The management of slaughter-houses in the 
country, in particular, needs reform. It is a 
common practice to leave offal of slaughtered 
animals to be eaten by both rats and swine. 
Such places are not only centers of rat-propaga- 
tion, but are the chief means of perpetuating 
trichinae in pork. All this should be changed in 
fact and by law. The offal should be promptly 
cremated or otherwise disposed of. There is 



THE PEST OF RATS 31 

no reason why country slaughter-houses should 
not be as cleanly as are the abattoirs of a 
modern city. 

Disposal of dead rats. Finally, the bodies 
of dead rats should never be handled with .the 
bare fingers, or thrown out to be eaten by dogs 
or pigs or other animals; for they may con- 
tain, as has been shown, the germs of dreadful 
diseases. They should be burned, or else 
turned to account by being buried at the foot 
of grape-vines or young trees, for which they 
will make an excellent fertilizer. 

Four-footed enemies of the rat. A word as 
to the assistance animals may give in killing 
off and keeping down the rats. How greatly 
the increase of all rodents is due to the destruc- 
tion of the various wild mammals, birds and 
reptiles, that prey upon them, will be shown 
hereafter. Hawks, owls, weasels and skunks 
dispose of a great number of rats in rural dis- 
tricts, and might take many more if they were 
permitted. Skunks in particular are a most 
valuable help in this direction — both the large 
northern skunks and the small spotted species 
of the South and West — and will, if allowed, 



32 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

speedily clear a place of its rats and mice. Un- 
fortunately they are seldom allowed to tenant 
the premises without being molested by either 
dogs or men. When thus disturbed, the skunks 
emit the characteristic secretion, which is al- 
most their only defense against enemies. Un- 
disturbed, they are quite inoffensive and will 
stay about the farm-buildings until rats and 
mice are no longer to be had. Skunks usually 
hunt by night, and hence poultry properly 
housed is safe from them. It is the loose, un- 
cared-for hens that suffer. 

The same may be said of weasels, which will 
follow a rat into its burrow, and seem to take 
such delight in slaughtering it that no rats 
can be found shortly after a weasel or two have 
taken up their quarters in the place. The 
drawback to their good work is, that they are 
fond of poultry and clever in getting it. The 
same may be said of minks; but a rat-proof 
hen-house is also weasel-proof. 

Farm ferrets, like weasels (of which they are 
a larger cousin) are inveterate foes of rats, 
but their value under ordinary circumstances is 
overestimated. 



THE PEST OF EATS 33 

"For effective work," says one who knows, 
' l they require experienced handling and the ad- 
ditional services of a dog or two. Dogs and 
ferrets must be thoroughly accustomed to each 
other, and the former must be quiet and steady 
instead of noisy and excitable. The ferret is 
used only to bolt the rats, which are killed by 
the dogs. If unmuzzled ferrets are sent into 
rat retreats, they are apt to make a kill and 
then lie up after sucking the blood of their vic- 
tim. Sometimes they remain for hours in the 
burrows or escape by other exits and are lost. 
There is danger that these lost ferrets may 
adapt themselves to wild conditions and become 
a pest by preying upon poultry and birds.' ' 

Cats, as a rule, are not of much use. Most 
of them are too well-fed, and will be afraid of, 
or not take the trouble to pursue rats, although 
they may be excellent mousers. 

A couple of good terriers, however, will work 
wonders in freeing one's premises if trained 
to rat-catching. The ordinary farmer's big 
cur is of no use for this purpose — and little for 
any other; but a Scotch, Irish or fox terrier, 
properly taught, will take pride in the work, 



34 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

and catch a surprising number of victims until 
all are frightened away. 

Cooperation necessary to subdue the pest. 
Little that is really effective can be done, how- 
ever, without cooperation in each district. 1 
To destroy the animals on the premises of a 
single farmer in a community has little perma- 
nent value, since they are soon replaced from 
near-by farms. If, however, the farmers of 
an entire township or county unite in efforts to 
get rid of rats, much more lasting results may 
be attained. Such organized efforts repeated 
with reasonable frequency are very effective. 

Cooperative efforts to destroy rats have 
taken various forms in different localities. In 
cities municipal employes have occasionally 
been set at work hunting rats from their re- 
treats with at least temporary benefit to the 
community. Thus, in 1904, at Folkestone, Eng- 
land, a town of about 25,000 inhabitants, the 
corporation employes, helped by dogs, in three 
days killed 1,645 rats. A better example is re- 
ported from India, where cooperative work 

1 See Cooperation among Farmers, by Prof. John Lee Coul- 
ter. In this Library, 1911, 75 cents. 



THE PEST OF RATS 35 

has prevailed over large districts. Thus in 
the Punjab more than 625 centers of popula- 
tion, including large towns, were systematically 
cleared of rats in 1908, the actual number 
known to have been destroyed reaching 4,116,- 
334, while large numbers were poisoned and 
escaped to die. The result in diminution of 
the endemic plague and other diseases was 
most marked. 

Side-hunts in which rats are the only animals 
that count in the contest have sometimes been 
organized and successfully carried out. At 
New Burlington, Ohio, a rat-hunt took place 
November 26, 1866, in which each of the two 
sides killed over 8,000 rats, the beaten party 
serving a Thanksgiving banquet to the winners. 

At about the same period county agricultural 
societies sometimes offered prizes to the family 
presenting the largest number of rats' tails as 
evidence that the animals had been destroyed. 
Even as late as May 2, 1907, in one of the coun- 
ties of Kentucky, by general consent, the day 
was set apart for killing rats, and, according to 
newspaper report, was quite generally observed. 

There is danger that organized rat-hunts will 



36 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

be followed by long intervals of indifference 
and inaction. This may be prevented by offer- 
ing prizes covering a definite period of effort. 
Such prizes accomplish more than municipal 
bounties, because they secure a friendly rivalry 
which stimulates the contestants to do their 
utmost to win. 

In England and some of its colonies contests 
for prizes have been organized to promote the 
destruction of the European house-sparrow, but 
many of the so-called "sparrow clubs" are 
really sparrow and rat clubs, for the destruc- 
tion of both pests are avowed objects of the or- 
ganization. A sparrow club in Kent, England, 
secured the destruction of 28,000 sparrows and 
16,000 rats in three seasons, by the annual ex- 
penditure of but $29.20 in prize money. Had 
ordinary bounties been paid for this destruc- 
tion, the tax on the community would have been 
about $1,200, 



CHAPTEE II 
THE PANTRY MOUSE 

The house-mouse (Mus musculus) needs no 
description. The only native species with 
which it can be confused is the harvest-mouse, 
from which it may be readily distinguished by 
its larger size and by the plain or ungrooved 
upper incisors. Like the rat it is a native of 
the Old World, very fertile, adaptable and 
hardy, and from time immemorial has followed 
civilization so closely that it soon becomes es- 
tablished in any settled region. It is therefore 
a world-wide nuisance, but by no means so 
great or difficult a one as is the rat. 

Characteristics, — The little house-mouse can 
hardly be confused with any other, for its ash- 
gray coat, becoming gradually lighter and 
often yellowish on the under parts, has fur- 
nished the language with a distinctive term, 
"mouse-color"; and its pointed nose, large 

37 



38 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

ears, half an inch long, very small eyes, and 
long naked tail, are nnlike those of any native 
mouse. Its total length is about 7 inches, 31^ 
of which belong to the tail. Its molar teeth 
have each three tubercles, instead of two, as 
in our own wood-mice ; and its incisors are un- 
grooved, by which, at any rate with the aid of 
a magnifying glass, the marks of its biting are 
readily identified. 

Its gray protective coat has seemed satis- 
factory under all circumstances, for there is no 
perceptible difference between representatives 
of the species in the four quarters of the globe. 
In general the type seems singularly invariable, 
only one or two varieties having arisen, such as 
the queer rhinoceros mice which appeared in 
England some years ago, and took their name 
from their hairless, deeply-folded skin which 
gave them the appearance of miniature rhinos. 
This fixity of type may be due in part to the 
fact that every country has received a con- 
stant immigration of fresh blood by means of 
ships and other conveyances. 

Japanese dancing-mice. One strange vari- 
ety, however, has arisen, probably in China 



THE PANTRY MOUSE 39 

from which it spread long ago to Japan, whence 
we have lately derived the specimens now com- 
monly sold in the animal-stores of our cities 
under the name of dancing or waltzing mice. 
They are small in size, pied hlack and white 
in a great variety of patterns, and are ex- 
tremely agile and amusing. Their distinguish- 
ing peculiarity, however, is their constant 
whirling about, so that a lot of them together 
seem like a company of dancers waltzing busily 
to some music unheard by us. 

The origin and extraordinary behavior of 
this astonishing race of mice has been the sub- 
ject of much study, which has been summed up 
and extensively added to by Prof. Robert M. 
Yerkes of Harvard University in a book en- 
titled The Dancing Mouse, a Study in Animal 
Behavior (New York, 1907). He regards it as 
highly probable that the Chinese took advan- 
tage of some deviation in captive mice from the 
usual form to develop a special race by means 
of careful and patient natural selection. "The 
dancing tendency is such in nature as to unfit 
an individual for the usual conditions of mouse 
existence, hence, in all probability, human care 



40 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

alone could have produced and preserved the 
race of dancers.' ' 

That it originated in a " freak' ' seems very 
likely, since mere cultivation of the familiar 
white mice (albinos), beloved of children, never 
develops into a habit of whirling. A German 
naturalist inbred albino mice for 28 generations 
without producing any hint of such a pecul- 
iarity. 

Prevalence of mice. House-mice are very 
prolific. They will begin to produce young 
when only three months old, and continue to 
breed at intervals of two or three months all 
the year round. It is not known whether any 
proper pairing takes place — probably not. 
The period of gestation is 25 days, five to ten 
young are produced at a birth — minute, pink, 
blind, hairless things — and are weaned after 
about two weeks. 

There are few houses or barns in which mice 
do not make themselves at home, racing from 
cellar to garret in the hollow walls and par- 
titions, and gnawing passageways wherever 
they think it worth while. Too often they 
penetrate where food is kept, and besides what 



THE PANTRY MOUSE 41 

they eat spoil large quantities by trampling 
and dragging their tails over or through it, 
and leaving their acrid-smelling traces. Where 
they are numerous, this becomes a very serious 
pest; and it is only the most slovenly house- 
keepers who will permit their presence. A 
good cat, kept hungry enough to make her 
eager to go a-mousing, is probably the best 
safeguard ; but traps are useful — especially the 
cheap and handy little guillotine traps de- 
scribed in the last chapter. Of course a wise 
person will stop up all holes, clean out the 
nests which may be found in an extraordinary 
variety of snug places, and make the little 
beasts as unwelcome as possible. They carry 
fleas and other parasites; and are often sorely 
afflicted with warbles; but it is not known that 
they transport the flea which communicates the 
microbe of the plague. However, their pretty 
feet often dabble in filth, and may bring into 
the house dangerous germs, so that it is not 
well to permit them the freedom of your 
kitchen or pantry. 

Mice carrying pathogenic bacilli. In a re- 
port of an investigation of the transmission of 



42 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

disease by house-mice made by Dr. P. Bara- 
baschi, and published in an Italian medical 
journal in 1909 (see Experiment Station 
Record, Vol. XXII, No. 7), it is stated that Dr. 
Barabaschi has found many bacilli within their 
bodies and excreta. Among these were the 
pneumococcus to which croupous pneumonia 
is due. the bacillus of anthrax, that of ery- 
sipelas, those to be found in abcesses, boils, 
etc., and other pathogenic germs. The mice 
with the pneumococcus were caught in private 
houses where there had recently been pneu- 
monia. The excreta of the mice — "mice dirt" 
— drying and scattering in dust, may transmit 
infection even without more direct contact. 
The greatest danger from this source is in- 
curred by persons working in granaries, etc., 
where mice abound and their droppings are 
scattered over the substances handled. It may 
be added that an American physician asserts 
that the microbe of measles comes from mice. 
In houses left untenanted for a time mice 
frequently do considerable damage by tearing 
holes in blankets, bedding and clothing, to get 
material for their nests. The writer has him- 



THE PANTRY MOUSE 43 

self suffered decidedly from their work in a 
summer bungalow while it was unoccupied 
during the winter, finding beautiful nests 
among the bed-clothing, made from his blan- 
kets. 

Apart from their mischief and dirt, mice are 
pretty little creatures and make interesting 
pets for the little folks. Caught young they 
are easily kept alive and comfortable in a 
roomy cage and exhibit many interesting ways. 
Rolled oats are a favorite food, and they like 
to nibble at grain and at pieces of bone with 
shreds of meat left on them; they also catch 
flies and other insects. Mr. Cram is of the 
opinion that, in cold weather at least, most of 
the house-mice live almost wholly upon insects, 
as flies, spiders, wasps and the like, that have 
packed themselves away snugly for the winter 
in secret crannies between the boards, some- 
times hundreds of them closely huddled to- 
gether. 

Musical mice. One of the most curious and 
remarkable facts in the history of the house- 
mouse is its so-called singing. Many instances 
are on record, of which the following related in 



44 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

The Scientific American some years ago is typ- 
ical: 

"A few winters since, while one of his family was 
amusing herself at the piano, a mouse made his ap- 
pearance on the threshold of the apartment, and, un- 
dismayed by the light or the presence of the family, 
chirped and carolled with intense satisfaction to 
itself, and to the great delight of its audience. Fre- 
quently afterward, but always in the evening, the 
rare songster repeated his performance. The piano 
keys were never struck that the mouse did not fol- 
low; but when the instrument was not touched, the 
music from the mouse would come, as if for a re- 
minder. Sometimes the little animal made himself 
visible and sometimes was hidden in the pantry 
which, for reasons obvious to housekeepers, he, she, 
or it had selected as an abode. One evening the 
mouse was traced to the stairway. Under the carpet 
sat the little creature, throwing his soul into his song. 
A lamp was placed beside him, and the family stood 
and looked and listened for half an hour or more. 
His head was up, and the movements of the muscles 
of his throat were plainly visible. Unfortunately our 
correspondent undertook to capture the singer. Many 
mice were caught and each was given twenty-four 
hours grace to sing for its life. But never after 
the treachery of the trap was the sound of the 
mouse's carol heard. If caught he died and made no 
sign." 



THE PANTRY MOUSE 45 

More lately (1909), a gentleman at Hamilton, 
Ontario, sent me the following account of a sim- 
ilar case: 

"Some months ago in one of the current magazines 
there appeared an article on "A Singing Mouse." 
The story related told of a gentleman whose atten- 
tion was attracted by a peculiar little singing noise, 
heard in one place, then in another part of his house. 
Curiosity led him to make a search, which ended, as 
he told his readers, in the finding in the wood-shed 
of one or more mice, which, no doubt, were the guilty 
parties. . . . 

' ' Some few nights ago, in our own house, we heard 
a peculiar noise. At first we believed it due to some 
mischievous boys playing the old-time trick of 'Tick- 
a-tack' on the window, as the sound proceeded from 
that part of the room. The sound resembled it some- 
what. The following evening the same sounds pro- 
ceeded from another part of the house. I was not 
present, but those who heard it dwelt on the musical 
quality of the thing, and declared the noise consisted 
of distinct notes, and ventured to add that it was 
pretty. Well, w T e were becoming interested. The 
third night I was home, and, filled with a bold de- 
termination to do or die, went at an investigation. 

"The noise proceeded from the kitchen, and one 
declared it came from beneath the sink. Upon re- 
moving a brush in the corner, on the floor, a little 
mouse ran out. The story in the magazine at once 



46 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

came to my mind. I was satisfied as to the 'singing 
mouse' being a reality. 

"The next appearance of our little singer was a 
night or so after the sink episode, when in the pantry, 
I and another saw it under a shelf, and it did not 
show much fear at our presence. It is not unlike 
other gray mice, only in the song it sings. This even- 
ing it was heard in the pantry. ' ' 

Many other instances might be quoted, some 
from writings more than a century old. Dr. 
Elliott Coues wrote an extensive article about 
these singing mice several years ago in The 
American Naturalist. His conclusion was that 
the sound was due to an asthmatic affection of 
the throat and vocal organs. An interesting 
narrative of various exhibitions of this faculty 
is also included in Dr. Merriam's admirable 
book on the mammals of the Adirondacks 
(Trans. Linnaean Soc. of N. Y., Vol. II.) ; and 
in Vol. V. of The American Naturalist, the late 
Eev. Samuel Lockwood gave a most pleasing 
history of a white-footed (wild) mouse which 
was kept in a cage, and was a persistent and 
prolonged singer, having two or more regular 
tunes, the music of which he gives. The sim- 
ilar performance of a captive house-mouse is 



THE PANTEY MOUSE 47 

related in Vol. V. of The Standard Natural 
History. All observers speak of the trilling, 
warbling, bird-like character of the notes. 

"It was not much of a song/' writes a Detroit 
lady, "as songs go, but still a distinct musical effort. 
Sometimes it would run up an octave and end with 
a decided attempt at a trill. Sometimes it would try 
to trill all the notes. ... Its favorite position 
when singing was an erect one, standing on its hind 
feet, and holding by its forward ones to the wall or 
a bracket, almost invariably turning its face towards 
us. It remained with us several weeks, and at length 
became so familiar as to appear to enjoy company, 
seemingly putting forth all its strength to amuse us 
with its little song, which improved daily in tone and 
volume, but not in compass. Its voice became so 
clear that we could frequently hear it in the parlor 
that opened out of the dining room." 

Most persons regard this singing as not due 
to disease, but quite natural. "There seems 
good reason for believing,' ' in the language of 
Ernest Thompson Seton, "that house-mice, 
and, indeed, all mice, will at times express their 
sense of well-being in a series of complicated 
sounds that correspond in every way with the 
singing of birds." 



CHAPTER III 

THE MEADOW-MOUSE AND ITS 
MISCHIEF 

While the alien rats and mice are working 
costly mischief about the house, stable, and 
granary, their native cousins, the wild mice, 
are doing vast harm in garden, orchard and 
field. Naturalists count 200 or more species of 
these animals in North America, but we need 
concern ourselves with only certain types, 
since, from the farmer's point of view, the ac- 
tions of all are much alike, and the principal 
damage is caused by those of a single group — 
the short-tailed meadow-mice of the genus 
Microtus. To this genus alone David E. Lantz 
has devoted a treatise of 64 pages in the pub- 
lications (Bulletin 31) of the U. S. Biological 
Survey from which, as before, I shall quote 
freely. He prefaces this treatise with the 
statement that the mice of this genus alone 
cause an average annual damage to American 
farmers of not less than $3,000,000. It is this 

48 



49 




50 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

kind of mouse which now and then in this 
country, and still more frequently in eastern 
Europe, appears suddenly in such vast num- 
bers as to constitute a veritable plague, ruining 
the produce of the year in all directions. 

Sometimes wild animals increase in numbers 
so suddenly that the change has been likened 
to a tidal wave, and ignorant people have re- 
garded the invasion as of miraculous origin. 
The belief that crickets, locusts, frogs, and even 
mice sometimes fall from the clouds is still held 
in many countries. 

"The careful observer, however, sees little mystery 
in the phenomena mentioned. He has studied the 
general habits of animals — their food, their powers 
of reproduction, their migrations, the checks on their 
increase due to natural enemies, disease, and varying 
climate — and consequently he attributes sudden 
changes in their numbers to known causes. In such 
changes he recognizes, especially, the influence of 
man, both direct and indirect, and his responsibility 
for interferences that greatly modify the operations 
of nature." 

American voles or meadow-mice. The mice 
of the genus Microtus (formerly Arvicola) rep- 
resent a group which embraces a large number 



MISCHIEF OF MEADOW-MOUSE 51 

of forms of small and very similar rodents 
which in some respects resemble true mice, but 
are readily distinguished by the robust body, 
thick head, very short ears, blunt muzzle and 
short, hairy tail. 

There seems to be no entirely appropriate 
vernacular name for these mice. The French 
call them campagnols, the Germans ivulilmause. 
English-speaking people outside the United 
States call them voles. In the United States 
they are variously designated as meadow-mice 
or field-mice, and locally as bear-mice, bull- 
mice, buck-tailed mice, mole-mice, and so forth. 
Meadoiv-mice would do very well if it were not 
that several of our four-score species belong to 
the high dry plains of the West. As, however, 
the typical meadow-mouse of the east ranges 
over nearly the whole country, its name may 
well be adopted for the whole genus. 

The three species most frequently met with 
in connection with damage are : 

1. Common meadow-mouse (Microtus penn- 
sylvanicus.) 

2. Prairie-mouse (M. ochrog aster.) 

3. Pine-mouse (M. pinetorum.) 



52 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

The common meadow-mouse (No. 1) is 6y 2 
inches long, of which the tail takes 1% inches ; 
and has eight teats. Its fur is long, overlain 
with coarse black hairs, and in winter almost 
conceals the ears. The usual color above is a 
dark brown, against which the black hairs are 
not conspicuous. This shades off gradually 
into gray or tawny on the under parts. This 
species may be said to inhabit the whole con- 
tinent, though in the mountainous parts of the 
West other species are more numerous and 
conspicuous. 

This mouse has its natural habitat in moist 
meadows and grassy borders of swamps, but it 
habitually extends its range into neighboring 
cultivated fields and waste lands. Nearly all 
meadows are full of the animals. On parting 
the thick grass almost anywhere one can find 
the smooth trails, and where the grass is thin 
they are often plainly visible. After the melt- 
ing of deep snow, or where the dry grass has 
been, burned, the network of runways is espe- 
cially conspicuous to the eye. In swamps the 
paths* cross soft mud, and where a green scum 
of minute floating plants covers stagnant 



MISCHIEF OF MEADOW-MOUSE 53 

water, the trails are often denned across it by 
streaks where the animals swim from side to 
side. 

The normal number of young averages about 
six, brought forth in an underground burrow. 

Prairie and pine mice. The prairie-mouse 
(No. 2) differs only slightly from No. 1. It is 
a little smaller, the rough tail is shorter, its 
two colors are more sharply contrasted, and the 
general pelage coarser. The color of the under 
parts shades into a buff or cinnamon, and in 
winter becomes gray. It is confined to the 
central Mississippi valley, where is produced 
more than half the corn, oats and winter wheat 
of the country; and two closely related species 
extend the range of mischief to the dry plains 
west and northwest. These prairie-mice have 
an especially fine opportunity for damage, and 
in the winter are more destructive to trees than 
the M. pennsylv aniens. Fortunately, there- 
fore, they are less productive, having usually 
only three or four young at a time, and the long 
summer droughts and extreme winters of the 
interior West further limit reproduction. 

The typical pine mouse or red-backed mouse 



54 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

(No. 3) is found only in the Carolinas and 
Georgia, but several varieties widen the specific 
range from southern New York to Oklahoma, 
south of the latitude of Lake Erie. The typical 
Georgian pine mouse has glossy, mole-like fur 
of a bright russet-brown color. The variety of 
the blue-grass region is darker and very glossy, 
while that of the states west of the Mississippi, 
between southern Iowa and northern Texas, 
is deep chestnut. In all, the skull is wide and 
flat, and the fur short, dense and glossy. 

Owing to their peculiar habits, pine mice are 
not so well known as are the northern meadow- 
mice. Their natural habitat is the forest, al- 
though they are by no means restricted to pine- 
woods or forested areas. The life of the pine 
mice is largely spent in underground tunnels, 
which so closely resemble those of the mole that 
generally they are mistaken for the work of 
that animal; but the inner diameter of the 
mouse-tunnels is less. When moles and pine 
mice live in the same vicinity, the mice often 
use the runways made by the former and this 
habit has helped to bring moles into disrepute 
with farmers. 



MISCHIEF OF MEADOW-MOUSE 55 

From their intricate tunnels under the leaf- 
mold frequent burrows descend into the soil, 
some of which are utilized as nesting places. 
Nests are built also at the surface of the 
ground, under fallen logs, brush-heaps, flat 
stones, fences, or other shelter. The number 
of young at a birth evidently averages less than 
is usual in the genus Microtus, as is shown by 
the small number of mammae ; but this is coun- 
terbalanced by the safer underground exist- 
ence; so that within their range pine mice are 
about as abundant as other field-mice. 

Quick and Butler, writing of the food-habits 
of the pine mouse in Indiana, state that it lives 
upon the tender roots of young hickories, the 
young sprouts of white clover, the fruit of the 
red haw, and the tuberous roots of the wild 
violet. These writers found all but the fruit 
buried, some in deposits of a gallon in a burrow, 
and the caches sometimes extending 18 inches 
below the surface of the ground. Violet roots 
predominated in these stores. Kennicott also 
states that pine mice store acorns and nuts in 
burrows for winter use. 

Living in concealment neither their presence 



56 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

nor the injury they inflict is suspected. Bulbs 
planted hopefully in autumn, appear not at all 
in spring, or only in the shape of sickly plants. 
Nursery and orchard trees fail without reason 
until their roots are examined and the work of 
this hidden nibbler is disclosed. 

General wild habits. It appears then that in 
habits there is considerable variety among the 
mice of this group (Microtince), but least in the 
matter of diet. While some species have a 
vastly widespread range, others are confined to 
very limited localities. Some species prefer 
high and dry ground, while others live in low, 
moist places. Except in cold weather, nearly 
all species can temporarily adapt themselves to 
moist surroundings; but a few seem to be al- 
most as aquatic as the nearly-allied muskrat. 
Some dwell in forests, others in the open 
prairies; some burrow under the ground like 
moles, while others make smooth paths or trails 
upon its surface. 

The nests of meadow-mice are compact 
bunches or globes, composed chiefly of grass 
blades and other dry vegetable fibers. They 
are placed in depressions in the ground, in 



MISCHIEF OF MEADOW-MOUSE 57 

shallow burrows, or supported on grass stems 
or brush-piles above the ground. Sometimes 
they are placed under flat stones or logs or 
under shocks of grain. The structures are so 
slight that a day's sunshine will dry them out 
after a storm, and yet they are so compact that 
the animals pass the coldest weather snugly 
housed in them under the snow. The young of 
most kinds are born in underground nests and 
are at first hairless and blind. When discov- 
ered in the nest the mother vole slips noise- 
lessly away, sometimes carrying the young at- 
tached to her mammae. 

The breeding-season includes most months 
of the year, except mid-winter in cold latitudes 
and periods of long-continued drought. The 
number of litters in a year thus depends on 
climate, and especially upon the character and 
length of the winter. In temperate latitudes 
in normal seasons from four to six litters are 
produced ; but the variation in the same species 
is remarkable, and depends partly upon climate, 
but probably more on the scarcity or abundance 
of food. The period of gestation is about 
twenty days. 



58 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

These mice, like their European relatives, the 
voles and lemmings, at times increase in num- 
bers abnormally, but the causes are little un- 
derstood. At such times they multiply with 
amazing rapidity, and begin breeding when 
only six months old. 

"If a thousand pairs of field-mice," remarks 
Mr. Lantz, "survive the winter in any neigh- 
borhood, the potential conditions for a vole 
plague are present. If, now, instead of normal 
reproduction, circumstances bring about a con- 
siderable increase both in the number of young 
at a time and in the number of litters in a sea- 
son, the probability of a plague is greatly in- 
creased. ' ' 

Plagues of field-mice. Swarms of mice dev- 
astating the fields have been seen by very 
few American farmers, though occasional se- 
vere outbreaks of this kind are on record in 
Nova Scotia and in various eastern states. 
They have been all too frequent, in all parts of 
the Old World from the earliest times, and used 
to be regarded superstitiously as punishments 
sent from on high. The valley of the Danube 
and the plains of southern Russia seem to have 



MISCHIEF OF MEADOW-MOUSE 59 

been especially subject to these devastations, 
which have occurred most terribly even within 
the past few years. 







' ■.■.'i;;:vr 
'•■■■■: ' " ;: ■■■■■: v ; 

mmmm 




IlitgHMj 



>.:;'■ 4-}'---y4;; r - -:■% 



'Wm 



m 





•AN alfaxfa field devoured and honeycombed by 

FIELD-MICE. 



In 1907-8 an outbreak of field-mice in Ne- 
vada, Utah and northeast California, threat- 



60 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

ened to develop into a plague as great as any 
recorded, and the facts concerning it have been 
studied and preserved in a pamphlet by Stan- 
ley E. Piper of the Biological Survey. The 
species was the black or Carson mouse (Micro- 
tias montanus) , which is widely prevalent west 
of the Rocky Mountains. 

"The greatest loss occurred in the rich fields of 
alfalfa bordering Humboldt River for the last ten 
or twelve miles of its course. Noticeable here through 
gradually increasing damage during 1906, the field- 
mice appeared early in the summer of 1907 in alarm- 
ing numbers. By November they had overrun a 
large part of the cultivated area, and on many large 
ranches were estimated to number from 8,000 to 
12,000 to the acre. Fields were literally honey- 
combed by their holes, which numbered about 24,000 
to the acre. During the summer they ruined one- 
third of the alfalfa, destroyed three-fourths of the 
potatoes, and severely injured root-crops, as beets and 
carrots. Upon the disappearance of green food in 
the fall they attacked the roots of alfalfa, so as to 
render many alfalfa fields a total loss. They girdled 
and killed most of the young shade-trees planted 
along ditches and about the borders of fields, while 
small orchards suffered severely. " 

Decline of the visitation. By January, 1908, 
the ravages had extended over considerably 



MISCHIEF OF MEADOW-MOUSE 61 

more of the district, and the main body of mice 
was gradually progressing to fresh fields. 
From this time, however, the abatement of the 
plague was rapid. By March 15, the invasion 
of fresh lands had ceased, though mice contin- 
ued considerably in excess of normal abundance 
until May. By August they had practically 
disappeared from the valley. This scourge left 
a dismal scene of destruction over four-fifths 
of the cultivated area in the district. Of 20,- 
000 acres in alfalfa, 15,000 were so completely 
destroyed as to require replanting. Consider- 
ing the actual losses in crops and the cost of 
restoring the alfalfa fields, and allowing for the 
value of the wheat which replaced alfalfa in 
most of the ruined fields for the season of 1908, 
Mr. Piper estimates the loss in this district at 
$250,000. 

Some interesting particulars are recorded 
as to the diminution of the horde, which was 
preyed upon by a gathered crowd of predatory 
birds, mammals and reptiles, as well as ex- 
tensively poisoned, yet succumbed at last 
mainly to natural mortality, — not to any spe- 
cific bacterial disease. 



62 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

"In the spring," Mr. Piper relates, "the mice in 
this locality failed to reproduce, while the same spe- 
cies was breeding prolificacy in other localities. In 
March several hundred females were examined in 
Humboldt Valley, of which very few were pregnant. 
Moreover, the mice themselves presented a different 
appearance from those seen when the plague was at 
its height — a fact noted by many ranchmen in the 
valley. During the fall of 1907 larger and much 
more vigorous individuals predominated, while in 
the spring of 1908 scarcely any of these remained. 
They continued in destructive numbers until . . . 
May. But they did not noticeably breed with the 
return of favorable weather and by August had 
practically disappeared. ' ' 

Prevention of plagues of mice. Unfortu- 
nately the liability to sncli " plagues " in- 
creases with the spread of settlement and 
cultivation. i i Agricultural development dis- 
tinctly increases the danger by furthering the 
destruction of their natural enemies, by furnish- 
ing a great abundance of food, and by increas- 
ing the area in which they find favorable 
homes." On the other hand, the prevention 
of plagues is comparatively easy. Systematic 
poisoning must be relied upon to repress them 
when they are obviously on the increase, but 








. 














mm 






63 



64 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

there are many inexpensive methods for pre- 
venting this increase. The destruction of rank 
grasses and weeds along fences and ditches, 
and particularly, in the West, the pasturing off 
of the last growth of alfalfa in fall, thus ex- 
posing the mice to the sight of predaceous en- 
emies, are important. Winter-burning of dry 
vegetation on wild hay lands, on strips border- 
ing fields, and on swampy or otherwise waste 
areas in and about cultivated fields, will aid 
materially in controlling them. The survivors 
may invade cultivated fields, but there they can 
be more readily poisoned. Flooding the fields 
in cold winter weather, when the mice quickly 
perish from exposure, is an effective method 
in irrigated lands. Plows turn out the bur- 
rows and nests of practically all the mice pres- 
ent and render them easy victims for dogs, 
which when trained to kill mice can not be too 
highly recommended as effective and inexpen- 
sive aids in controlling the pests. That hawks, 
owls, gulls, crows, ravens, and herons among 
birds, and skunks, weasels, foxes, and badgers 
among mammals, are persistent enemies of 
field-mice and other rodent pests, has been often 



MISCHIEF OF MEADOW-MOUSE 65 

pointed out. The protection and encourage- 
ment of these valuable allies of the farmer can 
not be too strongly advocated. 

Trapping, systematically continued, is of 
great service; and advice upon it is given at 
the end of this book, as also for poisoning these 
small pests. 

Food of wild mice. Beturning now to a 
further consideration of the mice in the normal 
numbers which are always with us, an under- 
standing of their feeding is most important as 
a preliminary to repressive measures. 

In summer the principal food is green vege- 
tation and unripe seeds of grain and grasses. 
As the season advances, ripe grain and seeds 
take the place of the immature; and in winter 
bulbous and other roots are in part substituted 
for stems and leaves. It is mainly in winter 
that apple orchards and young forest trees suf- 
fer, for meadow-mice invade cleanly cultivated 
fields only under shelter of snow. Unlike the 
foreign voles, our American species do not, as 
a rule, lay up winter-stores in any considerable 
quantities, as do some other American mice — 
the deer-mice, for instance. Instead, our mead- 



66 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

ow-mice are active all winter — not hibernating, 
but gathering food from day to day and wan- 
dering widely. Yet in the far North the climate 
has compelled habits of winter provision in the 
tundra vole (Microtus operarius) which is 
small, inhabits the mossy tundras of western 
Alaska, and gathers stores of small bulbous 
roots, sometimes placing a peck or more in a 
single cavity just below the surface on a mossy 
knoll or slope. In autumn, shortly before the 
first snowfall, the Eskimo women and children 
discover these stores by means of pointed 
sticks. In this way considerable quantities of 
food are gathered, which are boiled and eaten 
as a delicacy. "The boiled roots have a flavor 
like a boiled unripe sweet potato, and are very 
palatable during the long winter fare of meat 
and fish," according to E. W. Nelson. 

Damage from murine voracity. Complaints 
of damage to meadows and pastures have been 
steadily increasing, with occasional reports of 
the total ruin of a red-clover field. More grass 
is cut down and left than is eaten. In winter, 
haystacks are attacked and sometimes so rid- 
dled as to be spoiled for market. 



MISCHIEF OF MEADOW-MOUSE 67 

Growing grain of all kinds is destroyed. 

Field-mice injure early peas and other vege- 
tables, and pine mice often destroy potatoes 
in the ground. In the fall vegetables piled on 
the ground or stored in pits are liable to at- 
tack, and especially celery. Apples, pears, and 
other fruits are eaten also, including melons. 

Blackberries, raspberries, grapes, currants, 
gooseberries, and strawberries are often badly 
damaged by field-mice, and when the animals 
are abundant whole plantations are ruined, 
strawberries are especially liable to injury be- 
cause of winter mulching and also because the 
plants themselves furnish excellent food and 
shelter for the animals. Winter mulching of 
small fruits increases the damage unless care- 
fully guarded by clean surrounding areas. 

Damage to standing nursery stock is done 
usually under cover of snow; and in addition 
fto girdling trees above the surface meadow- 
mice sometimes dig down and attack the roots. 
Pine mice usually begin their evil work with 
the sprouting grain, and, in the case of fall- 
sown wheat and rye, continue it during the en- 
tire winter. Much greater damage is done 



68 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

when the grain is nearly mature, as stalks are 
then cut down; and after harvest the animals 
attack the shocked grain. In shocks and stacks 
the mice are perfectly at home, and multiply 
with such rapidity that within a few weeks a 
pair and their progeny may totally ruin an 
entire shock of wheat, oats or corn. In view 
of this situation it is a question whether the 
farmer who hastens to market his crop is not, 
on the whole, a gainer over his neighbor who 
waits for more favorable prices. 

In these and other ways the annual de- 
struction of grain and forage throughout the 
country is enormous; nor is the injury all 
done by the short-tailed meadow-mice. Deer- 
mice (Peromyscus), pocket-mice (Perogna- 
thus), harvest-mice (Reithrodontomys) , and 
ordinary house-mice are also concerned in the 
damage. Throughout the country the brown 
rat and in the Southwest the cotton-rat (Sig- 
modon) are serious field-pests. 

General preventive measures. The forego- 
ing testimony sufficiently shows the noxious 
character of these small rodents; and suggests 
the query: "How shall it be stopped? " 



MISCHIEF OF MEADOW-MOUSE 69 

In view of their wide distribution, the nature 
of their habits and the abundance of shelter 
and food everywhere in America, it is impos- 
sible to get rid of them; but it is not hopeless 
to reduce their ability for damage to a negligi- 
ble quantity. Thorough and clean cultivation, 
with frequent plowing, is perhaps the most 
effective general remedy, and where this is done 
throughout a group of adjoining farms, and the 
roadside weeds and fence-tangles are regularly 
cut, or burned over, little trouble will be ex- 
perienced within the district. 

Next to this is the preservation of the birds 
and other animals which prey upon mice, and 
which have been so ruthlessly killed off in most 
rural districts, partly through the insane tend- 
ency to kill every living thing which animates 
many country boys and men, and partly 
through mistaken ideas as to the harm such an- 
imals do. Even persons who ought to know 
better engage in this miscellaneous destruction 
of the best friends a farmer can have, — proof 
of which will appear later in this book. 

1 ' One of the most common mistakes made by sports- 
men in the supposed interests of game protection," 



70 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

remarks D. E. Lantz, "is the offer of prizes for the 
destruction of alleged 'game-destroying' mammals 
and birds. In one instance nine competitors for a 
club's prizes destroyed during twelve months 184 
weasels, 48 foxes, 54 minks, 343 skunks, 15 great 
horned owls, 6 'common owls,' and 148 hawks. The 
fact that only 21 owls were killed in an entire year 
by nine men trying for a record reveals a scarcity 
of these useful birds that is not complimentary to 
the intelligence of the community. The large num- 
ber of skunks killed indicates ignorance or disregard 
of the usefulness of that animal in destroying insects 
and mice. Apparently, too, there was no discrim- 
ination as to the species of hawks destroyed, and it is 
probably safe to say that field-mice in a single year 
have damaged the farmers of the region concerned 
a hundredfold more than the value of all the game 
and poultry saved through the offer of prizes. ' ' 

Protection of orchards and nurseries. In- 
jury to orchards and nurseries by field-mice 
may generally be prevented by forethought and 
the exercise of ordinary care. Of first impor- 
tance, always, is clean tillage. No grass or 
weeds should be left in or near the nursery. 
So well is this understood by the majority of 
experienced nurserymen that by clean tillage 
they secure practical immunity from the rav- 
ages of mice except in winters of deep and long- 



MISCHIEF OF MEADOW-MOUSE 71 

lying snow. Unfortunately, nurserymen can 
not control the lands which environ their trees, 
and when snow falls to a considerable depth 
prompt measures are sometimes necessary to 
keep mice from destroying them. 

This can be accomplished most readily by 
dragging a heavy log several times around each 
block of trees, packing the snow so firmly that 
mice cannot tunnel under it. If this be done 
promptly after the first snowfall, subsequent 
falls will require little attention. Under no 
circumstances should matted grass or litter be 
allowed around the trunks of trees or along the 
borders of the orchard. In the absence of 
snow a cleared space of about 18 inches radius 
about each trunk is enough to prevent damage. 
This space should be as smooth and clean as 
possible. 

Tree-protectors and washes considered. If 
any part of the orchard is so located as to be 
subject to snowdrifts, and mice are abundant 
in the vicinity, tree-protectors should be used. 
These may be had of dealers for 60 to 75 
cents per hundred, or they may be made by the 
farmer. Strips of wire cloth make excellent 



72 



ANIMAL COMPETITORS 



protectors, and tarred paper is a favorite with 
some horticulturists. The wire cloth or paper 




AN APPLE-TEEE GNAWED BY MEADOW-MICE. 

is cut into strips about 7 inches wide and at 
least 15 inches long. A strip is secured around 



MISCHIEF OF MEADOW-MOUSE 73 

each tree with wire or cord. Tarred paper 
should never be used on very young trees, and 
when used on others should not be left in place 
during the summer, since it may injure the 
growing tree. 

Various paints and washes have been recom- 
mended to prevent attacks of mice and rabbits 
in orchards. The majority of these are with- 
out merit and some of them are liable to kill 
young trees. Some of the washes require re- 
newal after every hard rain. In experiments 
with a wash of whale-oil soap, crude carbolic 
acid, and water, for apple trees, it was found 
that in about forty-eight hours the carbolic acid 
had so far evaporated that mice renewed their 
work upon the bark. Blood and grease, said to 
give immunity from rabbit attacks, would invite 
the attention of field-mice. 

Eeports recently received by the Biological 
Survey seem to indicate that the ordinary lime- 
and-sulphur wash, recommended for the winter 
spraying of trees to destroy the San Jose scale, 
is an effective preventive of the attacks of both 
mice and rabbits. The wash is very cheap 
(from 1 to 2 cents a gallon when prepared in 



74 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

45 to 50 gallon quantities) and is easily applied 
to the trunks of trees either in the form of a 
spray or by the use of a brush. One thorough 
application in November would probably be ef- 
fective for the entire winter. The ingredients 
of the wash are 20 pounds of unslaked lime, 
15 pounds flowers of sulphur, and water to 
make 45 to 50 gallons. The mixture should be 
boiled in an iron kettle at least an hour and 
applied to the trees while warm. 

Winter mulching of trees is dangerous, un- 
less the neighborhood is known to be free from 
mice. Mulch containing straw may be placed 
in the orchard in spring, but it should be re- 
moved before the approach of cold weather. 
Fine, thoroughly rotted manure may be used in 
the orchard with but little danger. Lime or 
ashes about the trunks of trees has some value 
in keeping off mice, but clean cultivation is 
equally or more effective. ; 

Remedies for injured trees. When trees 
are girdled by mice, portions of the inner bark 
(cambium layer) are often left, partly cover- 
ing the hard wood below. If sunlight and wind 
have free access to the injury, the remaining 



MISCHIEF OF MEADOW-MOUSE 75 



bark dries up and the tree dies. If light and 
air are excluded, new bark will form and the 
wound quickly heal over. To facilitate the 
healing process, it is important that wounds be 
covered as soon as possible. All that is needed 
is to mound up the soil about the trunk of the 
tree high enough to cover the wound, and the 
covering should remain all summer. 




MOUSE CAUGHT IN A GUILLOTINE TRAP. 

This is the simplest, cheapest, most humane, and on the 
whole most effective trap for catching and killing rats, wild 
mice or house-mice. 



CHAPTER IV 
PROFIT FROM THE MUSKRAT 

In Europe some of the best-known species of 
meadow-mouse are large and aquatic, as, for 
example, the common water-rat of England. 
Of the same sort, on a larger scale, is our 
American muskrat — a huge, water-dwelling 
vole with a tail compressed into a sculling-oar, 
whose appearance and manner of life are fa- 
miliar to most of us. 

Mischief done by muskrats. In the Eastern 
States muskrats do little damage, although 
everywhere abundant, except occasionally by 
opening a dike that protects a New England 
salt-meadow from high tides. West of the Al- 
leghanies, however, they often cause great an- 
noyance to the owners of canals and reservoirs 
by their burrowing; and frequently enter gar- 
dens near the water-side and devour fruit and 
vegetables to a considerable extent, while corn- 
fields sometimes suffer much when the corn 

76 



PROFIT FROM THE MUSKRAT 77 

is in the roasting-ear stage. At times, also, 
they have ruined ornamental ponds by eating 
out of them the lilies and similar plants of 
whose bulbs they are fond. But this sort of 
destruction is rarely noticed except in the 
neighborhood of extensive marshes. 

Far more serious, however, is the trouble and 
loss the busy animals occasion by perforating 
the dams and embankments of mill-ponds, 
ice-ponds, irrigation ditches and reservoirs. 
Every canal suffers breaks due to them, as well 
as to brown rats, gophers, mice, crayfish and 
moles. In the rice plantations of the Gulf coast 
they are a serious nuisance by cutting the em- 
bankments and flooding or draining the rice- 
fields at the wrong time; and this has resulted 
in Louisiana in laws protecting the alligators 
in some parishes because they kill the rats. 
So serious was the situation in Plaquemine 
Parish, La., in 1908-9, that a general slaughter 
of muskrats took place, and fully half a million 
are said to have been killed. The sale of their 
pelts produced about $100,000. 

Trapping, shooting and poisoning may all be 
made effective to a certain, extent against 



78 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

muskrats, but should only be employed in ex- 
ceptional circumstances. The most valuable 
works open to their attacks should be con- 
structed of or faced with rubble or concrete to 
a proper depth. 

Muskrats worth far more than the damage 
they do. As a matter of fact the harm done by 
muskrats is, on the whole, far outbalanced by 
their value in fur, so that in Canada, and in 
many states of the Union, the animal is pro- 
tected during a close season (April to Novem- 
ber), when its young are being nurtured and 
the fur is not "prime," i. e., in good condition 
for market. These states are Delaware, Illi- 
nois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland (coast counties), 
Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, 
North Carolina (coast counties), South Dakota, 
Virginia (coast counties) and Wisconsin. This 
protection, however, ends too early in the fall. 
The open season should not begin in the United 
States before December 15, and should close by 
March 15; in Canada it may be slightly pro- 
longed. 

The muskrat supplies one of the most useful 
and dependable sources of fur for clothing, and 



80 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

also a good flesh-food which is not utilized to 
the extent it deserves. 

Excellence of muskrat flesh. The Indian 
aborigines habitually ate this flesh, especially 
in winter, and taught the colonists how to cook 
it, boiled with corn, into a toothsome dish. The 
early western hunters and explorers were glad 
to get it, liking it roasted over a slow fire. 
Lantz tells us that in the retail markets of 
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Wilmington and other 
cities, these animals are sold as "marsh rab- 
bits,'' but no attempt is made to conceal the 
fact that they are muskrats. 

"They are bought and eaten both by well-to-do 
citizens and by the poorer people who seldom indulge 
in high-priced game. The animals are trapped pri- 
marily for their pelts, but after they are skinned, 
the additional labor of preparing the meat for mar- 
ket is so slight that they can be sold very cheaply. 

"In the Baltimore markets, February 21, 1908, I 
found muskrats for sale at various stalls. The retail 
price was 10 cents each. At the commission houses 
I learned that several firms receive them regularly 
from the lo^ver Chesapeake. . . . 

"In February, 1907, the Philadelphia Record 
stated that a single dealer on Dock street in that city 
sold about 3,000 muskrats a week for food, The chief 



PROFIT FROM THE MUSKRAT 81 

source of this supply was stated to be in the vicinity 
of Salem, N. J. The Saginaw (Mich.) Courier-Her- 
ald states that in the season of 1907-8 dressed musk- 
rats at that place retailed at from 15 to 20 cents each, 
and that dealers had ready sale for all they could 
provide. Muskrat is said to be a favorite dish at 
dinners given by church societies in Delaware and 
Maryland, and annual muskrat banquets are a fea- 
ture with certain gun clubs in the West. Those of 
the Monroe (Mich.) Marsh Club have been celebrated 
for many years. Nearly a dozen years ago, when the 
club desired the enactment of a law to protect the 
muskrat on the marshes adjoining the Great Lakes, 
they went to Lansing, taking with them their own 
chefs, and invited the entire Legislature to partake 
of their hospitality. . . . The law was passed 
without opposition. . . . 

■ ' The flesh of the muskrat is dark red in color, but 
fine-grained and tender. Unfavorable opinions as to 
its flavor arise, probably, from lack of skill in cook- 
ing or from carelessness in skinning the animal. In 
the usual method of skinning, the hair-side of the 
pelts does not come in contact with the flesh, the 
musk-glands often come off with the skin, and only 
in summer does the musky odor pervade the flesh. 
An unskilled person is more likely to leave some of 
the odor, but in winter it may all be removed by 
washing [as, also, the gamey flavor, when too strong 
for one's taste, by soaking in salt water.] The novice 
should be careful to keep the fur from touching the 
flesh, to avoid cutting into the musk-glands, and to 



82 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

trim off any subcutaneous glands that may adhere to 
the meat." 

The following published recipes for cooking 
muskrat are credited to George T. Bowen, a 
caterer of Baltimore, Md. : 

"Fried Muskrat. — Wash the meat thoroughly and 
cut in quarters. Let it lie in salt water for an hour 
or more, then wash, dry with a cloth, and season. 
Dip the pieces in a prepared egg-batter and dust them 
with flour or meal. Place the lard in a frying-pan 
and let it get hot. Then put in the muskrat and fry 
very slowly for an hour. Prepare a gravy of milk, 
butter, flour, and parsley, and season it to taste. 
After it thickens pour it over the cooked muskrat. 

"Roast Muskrat. — Wash the meat thoroughly, let it 
lie for an hour or more in salt water, and then wash 
again. Put it in a pan with water, salt, pepper, 
butter, and a little onion; sprinkle flour over it, and 
baste it until it is thoroughly done. 

"Stewed Muskrat. — Wash the meat thoroughly, cut 
it in pieces, and let it lie in salt water for an hour. 
Then wash again, put it in a saucepan, and season 
with butter, salt, and pepper to taste. Let it simmer 
slowly, and when nearly done put parsley and a lit- 
tle chopped onion into it. When entirely dore 
thicken with a gravy of flour and water, as for stewed 
chicken." 

Steady demand for muskrat fur. It is, how- 
ever, for its pelt that the muskrat is chiefly 



PROFIT FROM THE MUSKRAT 83 

valued, and should be preserved and cultivated 
under properly restrictive conditions. Com- 
pared with most other furs of small size, musk- 
rat furs are of excellent quality and durability ; 
their cheapness is chiefly the result of their 
abundance. Properly dyed and made up, they 
are difficult to distinguish from sealskin, but 
their wearing qualities are greatly inferior. 
The modern dresser and dyer have found means 
of imitating nearly all the more costly furs with 
that of this animal, and have thus created a 
continuous demand for the pelts. 

Notwithstanding that during the past 150 
years nearly 250 millions of muskrats have 
been trapped, vast numbers of these pelts reach 
market annually. The sales at the great Lon- 
don auctions (which determine prices for the 
world) for 1909 were 3,771,000, at higher prices 
than at any time previously. Many fur-buying 
establishments advertise most alluringly, in 
order to induce consignments from local deal- 
ers, or from individual trappers ; but in many 
cases they grade the furs so low that the re- 
turns are far below expectation. It is prob- 
ably better policy, as a rule, for the amateur 



84 ANIMAL COMPETITORS. 

rural trapper to sell his pelts to a local buyer 
whom he knows and trusts than to ship them to 
a distant dealer. In any event he ought to un- 
derstand the points of quality by which his furs 
are graded, and keep himself informed as to 
current prices. 

Trapping the muskrat. Muskrats are not 
suspicious and are easily trapped. They take 
any suitable bait readily, especially in winter 
and early spring, when green food is scarce. 
A strong steel trap breaks the leg bone and in 
struggling the animal is apt to tear loose, leav- 
ing a foot, or part of it, in the trap. For this 
reason the traps should be set so that the cap- 
tives will quickly drown. The best baits are 
carrots, sweet apples, parsnips, turnips, or 
pieces of squash. Many trappers use scent to 
attract the animals, but the practice is of doubt- 
ful utility. 

Most muskrat trappers use the ordinary steel 
trap (No. 1). The manner of setting it depends 
upon the situation, and the skill of the trapper 
is best displayed in selecting this. Muskrat 
trails may be found along the banks of all 
streams and ponds which they inhabit, and the 



PROFIT FROM THE MUSKRAT 85 

practiced eye can often trace them into shallow 
water. Sink the trap in the trail, partly in the 
mud or sand where the water is two or three 
inches deep, and fasten the chain to a stake, or, 
better still, to a slender pole, reaching into deep 
water. Fasten the bait to a stick set in the 
mud, so that the bait is about a foot above the 
pan of the trap. The animal in reaching for 
the bait sets the hind foot upon the pan and is 
caught more securely than if taken by the fore 
foot. It immediately plunges into deep water, 
sliding the chain along the pole as far as it will 
go, and soon drowns. If the chain is fastened 
to a stake, it should be planted in water a foot 
or more in depth, so that the animal will drown. 

Besides this water-set for the steel trap, 
other situations will suggest themselves to the 
intelligent trapper. One of the best is in the 
opening of the animal's burrow in the bank. 
Here no bait is required. Sometimes a spade 
is needed to cut out a piece of turf and make 
room for the trap, the top of which should be 
at least two inches under water. 

When ponds are frozen over, traps are often 
set in the muskrat houses, the trapper going 



86 ANIMAL COMPETITOBS 

to them on the ice; but this practice destroys 
the houses and is not to be commended. Trap- 
ping near the houses in open water is far 
better. When the houses are not far from the 
bank, a long plank may be used advantageously 
as a support for traps. It is moored to the 
shore by a wire passed through a staple driven 
into one end of the plank, while the other end 
projects into the pond or rests against the side 
of the muskrat house. Light cleats are nailed 
to the upper side of the plank at intervals of a 
foot with space enough between them to hold 
a trap when set. The ring at the end of each 
trap chain is fastened to the plank by a staple. 
Baits of carrot or apple may be scattered along 
the plank; but they are not necessary, since the 
animals will use such a plank as a highway to 
the shore, and are almost sure to be caught. 
Most of the occupants of a house may some- 
times be taken on one plank in a single night. 

"The box trap is a favorite with some trappers. 
They use a long wooden box whose cross section inside 
is about 6 by 6 inches and which has a gate at each 
end. The gates are of wire and arranged to swing in- 
ward but not outward. The box is set just under water 
with one end at the entrance to a muskrat burrow. 



PROFIT FROM THE MUSKRAT 87 

The animal lifts the gate on leaving the burrow and 
is imprisoned and drowned. Others follow until per- 
haps all the occupants of the burrow are caught. A 
similar trap may be made entirely of heavy wire net- 
ting of half-inch mesh, bent to shape. These traps 
are well adapted to very narrow streams or ditches — 
favorite runways of the animals. 

"An open barrel sunk near the bank of the stream 
or pond frequented by muskrats is said to be an ef- 
fective trap. The top of the barrel should be level 
with the surface of the ground. The barrel is half 
full of water, upon which pieces of carrot or apple 
are floating. A piece of board about 8 inches square, 
or a few floating chips, will delude the animals into 
jumping into the barrel to secure the food. Musk- 
rats taken alive should be killed by a sharp blow 
across the back of the head. 

"A floating barrel is said to be a good substitute 
for a sunken barrel. A hole 8 to 12 inches square 
is sawed in the side of a barrel having both ends in- 
tact. A strong cleat is nailed across each end, pro- 
jecting 6 or 8 inches on the sides. Upon the 
projecting cleats boards as long or somewhat longer 
than the barrel are nailed. Enough water is placed 
in the barrel to make it float with the outer platform 
level with the surface of the pond — say, with about 
one-third of the surface of the barrel exposed. 

"Another way of taking the muskrat is to spear 
it inside its winter house. This is a common Indian 
method; but it should not be encouraged. Not only 
are the pelts injured by the spear, but when the 



88 ANIMAL COMPETITOKS 

ponds are ice-bound, the animals that escape the spear 
often perish after their houses are destroyed." 

Trapping was at one time a popular calling 
in the United States; but fur-bearing animals 
have so decreased in numbers that nowadays 
few persons earn a livelihood by trapping alone. 
A large part of the supply of muskrat fur is 
taken by boys, who adopt this method of earn- 
ing a little extra spending money. They often 
attend school, and look after the traps in the 
morning and evening. 

Preparation of the pelt. Muskrat skins in- 
tended for market should be " cased/ ' not 
opened along the belly. In skinning begin at 
the heel and slit up the middle of one hind 
leg to the tail, around it, and then down the 
other leg to the heel. The skin may then be 
easily (but gently) turned back over the body, 
leaving the fur side inward. Next, cut closely 
and cautiously around ears, nose and lips, and 
scrape off adhering bits of flesh. The skin, 
inside out, is then stretched over a thin board 
shaped like a rifle-cartridge, and a tack or two 
is inserted to keep it in position until dry, — 
the drying should be in the open air, not before 






PKOFIT FROM THE MUSKRAT 89 

a fire or in the sun, and not exposed to rain. 
Formerly many of these skins were dressed at 
home, but the process is complicated and diffi- 
cult. 

Cultivation of muskrats. In view of the real 
value, continuous demand, growing difficulty of 
obtaining prime pelts and consequent steady 
enhancement of price, it has occurred to many 
persons that the rearing of muskrats in pro- 
tected marshes and under favoring conditions 
would be profitable. Some of the experiments 
already tried in this direction have succeeded 
well, but they are in reality little more than a 
cooperative protection of certain extensive 
haunts against over-trapping as well as 
against poaching. Large tracts of marshes at 
the western end of Lake Erie, controlled by 
sporting clubs, are thus governed and yield a 
substantial revenue under wise management. 

In this way a new value has been given to 
extensive areas of marsh, liable to tidal over- 
flow, along the western margin of Chesapeake 
Bay, where landowners now lease the trapping- 
privilege, and trappers and owners unite to 
protect the marshes from poaching. The owner 



90 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

receives half the fur caught, while the trapper 
gets the other half and all he can realize from 
the sale of the meat. In the short season of 
seventy-four days, January 1 to March 15, dur- 
ing 1908 and 1909, trappers easily made from 
$400 to $900 each. 

The demand for the meat is growing, and all 
of it is utilized. The Baltimore market takes 
about 30,000 animals during a season, the bulk 
of which come from Dorchester County, Va. 

The editor of the Cambridge Record, a local 
newspaper, stated (1909) that the muskrat in- 
dustry of Dorchester brings into the county 
about $100,000 annually. This would indicate 
that about a quarter-million of the animals are 
trapped each season. The danger of exhaust- 
ing the supply by continued close trapping has 
been discussed in Dorchester County, but trap- 
pers there maintain that with the long closed 
season, March 15 to January 1, little ground for 
anxiety on this score exists. However, it is 
worth keeping in mind. 

Possibilities of this business. There are 
many places in all the eastern half of the 
United States where a similar industry might 



PROFIT FROM THE MUSKRAT 91 

be developed, even though on a smaller scale; 
and it is a very suitable investment and occupa- 
tion for men and boys who might organize 
small local companies to carry it on effectively. 
As it is winter work, little time useful for any- 
thing else would be needed. The chief require- 
ments are protection for the animals during a 
close season, and from poaching in winter ; and 
a suitable limitation of the number taken, based 
upon local circumstances. 

In their natural haunts no feeding is re- 
quired ; and it may often be advisable in places 
to enlarge the area suitable to the animals by 
damming the outlet so as to flood a wider area. 
The rats increase rapidly when encouraged, 
though the varying testimony on the subject 
seems to show that they differ in this respect 
in different parts of the country. Seton says 
that in Manitoba there are commonly said to be 
three litters a year, of four to nine each, and 
that the first litter of the year themselves have 
young in the autumn. The period of gestation 
is about 30 days. 

Suitable places and proper care. There are 
few swamps and marshy streams in which 



92 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

these rodents are not naturally numerous, and 
they persist in the midst of civilized districts 
in a marvelous way. There would seem to be 
no difficulty then in colonizing a new artificial 
marsh or pond for the sake of rearing them. 
Such a place, however, must have a natural or 
planted growth of suitable food-plants — lilies, 
arums, sedges, etc. — whose roots form their 
winter subsistence. Among the principal of 
these plants are yellow and white pond-lilies, 
the golden clubhead or river-bulrush, a large 
sedge whose fleshy tubers are nutritious, and 
the lotus (Nelumbo). In summer they feed 
upon a far more extensive list of aquatic plants 
and shore grasses, vegetables and fruits, and 
also largely on mussels, snails, crayfish, caddis- 
worms, sluggish fish, like carp, and now and 
then catch ducks and other small animals. 
The feeding-habits of the wild muskrats of the 
locality should be carefully considered. 

The highest usefulness of a "muskrat-farm' , 
would be gained, however, by improving the 
stock in size and color. To do this selective 
breeding should be attempted. The larger and 
blacker the pelt the higher price it will bring. 



PROFIT FROM THE MUSKRAT 93 

It would be well, then, to trap as many of the 
year's crop as possible alive, and to put back 
any notably large or very black ones to act 
as breeders, while the small and light-colored 
examples were steadily weeded out. In this 
way only a few years would be required, in a 
restricted community, to produce a notable im- 
provement in your muskrats. 

As little expense or trouble is required, 
muskrat-f arming ought to be a very profitable 
enterprise in many places. 



CHAPTEE V 
CAN THE BEAVER BE SAVED? 

Heke, too, may be considered the beaver, with 
reference to the possibility of preserving it 
from extinction, and cultivating it for fur. In 
most of our states and provinces this animal 
is more or less under legal protection, and 
scattered colonies flourish throughout the moun- 
tainous parts of the West, while several zoolog- 
ical parks and some private estates have 
colonies. These thrive, and increase so fast 
that from time to time it is necessary to thin 
out the band. A newspaper reports that about 
100 were in this way culled out of the colony 
in Algonkin Park, a national reserve in north- 
ern Ontario, during 1909. 

It would seem entirely feasible, then, for any- 
one having a favorable place on his estate to 
rear beavers. A swampy valley is usually of 
little usefulness otherwise. The cost of con- 
fining and protecting the colony would, how- 

94 



CAN THE BEAVEB, BE SAVED 



95 




BEAVER-DAM NEAR LAKE TEMISCAMING, ONTARIO. 

From a Photograph by George S. Bryan. 




A BEAVEK-DAMj on. the upper && 



96 ANIMAL COMPETITOKS 

ever, be considerable in most situations. A 
strong iron or wire fence which would resist 
their jaws, and which would also keep out bad 
dogs, would be a large item if it enclosed an 
area spacious enough for extensive operations. 
Only a short time would elapse before the 
beavers had cut down and used up all the trees 
and bushes which were not jacketed with stout 
wire higher than they could reach; and after 
that it would be needful to feed them with fresh 
tree-limbs of suitable kinds. Lastly, if the 
colony amounted to anything it would doubtless 
be necessary in most places to guard it well 
against human marauders who would kill the 
animals for their valuable pelts. It is to be 
noted that these animals will not eat the bark 
of evergreen (coniferous) trees of any kind. 

It is proper also to add a caution quoted 
from Vernon Bailey's notes on Texas mammals 
(N. A. Fauna, No. 25.) 

"In talking with John Seavel, an old beaver trap- 
per, I asked him why it would not pay to protect the 
beaver in a pond like that above Pecos bridge (over 
the Rio Grande), and let them multiply. The idea 
was not new to him, for he had talked it over with 
other trappers and all agreed that it was not worth 



CAN THE BEAVER BE SAVED? 97 

trying because they considered the beaver naturally 
ferocious, to a great extent solitary and a slow 
breeder. Seavel says that two old beavers rarely live 
together in one house or even in one small pond; that 
they fight and chase away any newcomers ; that if a 
family grows up and is undisturbed in a pond or a 
deep bend of the river, its members keep all others 
of the species away, and that they attack and kill 
any one of their number that is found in a trap or 
sick or crippled. While he thinks that systematic 
breeding for fur is out of the question, he admits that 
the beaver should be protected all over the country 
until the few that remain increase and restock the 
Streams. ' ' 

If this is generally true, it may be found that 
the most profitable course for a beaver-culti- 
vator is to acquire control of a stream already 
tenanted by beaver, and guard them there in 
their natural life, taking only a proper propor- 
tion each year. 



CHAPTER VI 

WOOD-RATS, PACK-RATS, COTTON- 
RATS, ETC. 

In the South and West are to be found a 
great number of species of rodents called wood- 
rats (Neotoma) which are pretty, interesting 
and amusing rather than harmful in their mag- 
pie-like mischief. They are rat-like in form, 
with long, scantily-haired tails, but squirrel-like 
in agility and climbing power; and more in- 
clined to go abroad in the dusk of evening and 
morning than during the brighter hours of the 
day. 

Florida and Texas species. One species is 
well known in wooded country from New Jersey 
southward, and is 13 inches long, including a 
5-inch tail, brownish gray, the sides tawny, the 
belly and feet all white. Bartram described 
the animal and its home, as he met with them 
in Florida almost 150 years ago. 

"They are singular," he says, "with respect to 
their ingenuity and great labor in the construction 



WOOD-RATS, PACK-RATS, ETC. 99 

of their habitations, which are conical pyramids 
about three feet high, constructed with dry branches, 
which they collect with great labor and perseverance, 
and pile up without any apparent order; yet they 
are so interwoven with one another, that it would 
take a bear or wildcat some time to pull one of these 
castles to pieces." 

"The very playful character of this species," re- 
marked Audubon, "its cleanly habits, its mild, promi- 
nent and bright eyes ; together with its fine form and 
easy susceptibility of domestication, would render it 
a far more interesting pet than many others." 

West and southwest of the Plains live many 
closely related species, some of which inhabit 
the mountains, others only timbered valleys, 
while still others are restricted to desert val- 
leys. All erect more or less elaborate and 
often conspicuous houses, sometimes in the 
branches of trees — a safer place than on the 
ground. 

Vernon Bailey discusses upon them thus : 

' ' For houses they heap up a bushel or more of sticks, 
stones, cow-chips, cactus, bones, or other materials 
which the animals can carry and pile up as a protect- 
ing cover for their nests and burrows in the ground be- 
neath. Cactus and thorny branches, if available, are 
always a conspicuous part of the building material. 
The house is usually occupied by one old rat, a pair, or 



100 



ANIMAL COMPETITORS 



a family, but never by a colony. Wood-rats are social 
and visit back and forth from one house to another 
until well-worn trails often connect the houses and 
lead to the feeding grounds. The food of these ani- 
mals is mainly seeds, berries, and many kinds of green 
foliage. "Where the houses are located near the edges 
of fields, grain, fruits, and vegetables are sometimes 




FIELD-NEST OF BAILEY'S WOOD-KAT. 

From Warren's "Mammals of Colorado." By Permission of G. P. 

Putnam's Sons. Photo by H. W. Nash. 



eaten or carried away and stored up for food, but 
fortunately the rats are never sufficiently numerous 
to do serious damage. Their houses are easily de- 
stroyed and the occupants captured by a few min- 
utes' work with a shovel, or the rats can readily be 
trapped or poisoned. They frequently enter cabins 



WOOD-EATS, PACK-RATS, ETC. 101 

or camps not permanently occupied and eat or carry 
away provisions. They sometimes cause great annoy- 
ance by cutting leather harnesses or saddles. There 
is rarely more than one animal responsible for the 
mischief in a camp, however, and a rat-trap will 
usually prevent further trouble. It is unfortunate 
that the odious name of rat has become attached to 
these bright and interesting little animals, as other- 
wise they might become a table delicacy. They are 
cleanly in habits and are strictly vegetarian in diet. 
Their flesh is as white and delicate as that of the 
quail and finer in flavor than that of the squirrel or 
rabbit." 

The mountain pack-rat. The best-known of 
these wood-rats is that yellowish-gray one of 
the Rocky Mountain region, with the very 
bushy tail, known as pack-rat, trade-rat or 
bush-rat (Neotoma cinerea), and its reputa- 
tion is an evil one. As Warren remarks: 
"While the warm weather lasts (in Colorado), 
they do not trouble habitations very much, but 
when in the mountains the weather begins to 
get colder the rat looks out for a warm place 
for his winter residence, and often selects the 
miner's cabin or some ranch-house." It soon 
makes its presence known by carrying away any 
portable articles, and it makes no difference 



102 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

whether they are of any use to the animal or 
not. It has been known to carry off even sticks 
of dynamite. 

Its nests are frequently lined by shredding 
gunny-sacking or clothing. Rolled or folded 
blankets have been completely riddled by them 
in their search for stuff to make their beds, 
which often are placed in queer situations. A 
correspondent in British Columbia tells of one 
which inhabited a letter-box nailed against a 
tree in a lonely locality. 

"I visited him often," lie writes, "and on opening 
the door, his head, with its big round eyes and great 
round ears, would appear out of his warm bed with 
an expression of inquiry, but with no sign of fear. 
He had brought everything in through a knot hole, 
apparently too small to admit even his body. Before 
his nest was stored a pile of Oregon grapes and green 
leaves, but I could not discover that he ate any of 
them, although occupying the box for some weeks. ' ' 

On the Pacific coast they are fond of estab- 
lishing themselves in the sod roofs of log cabins 
— or used to be, when such structures were 
more common than nowadays — and become a 
nuisance. 

A capable thief. The following account, 



WOOD-RATS, PACK-RATS, ETC. 103 

communicated in 1877 to The American Journal 
of Science by A. W. Chase, shows what the an- 
imal is capable of in the way of mischief. The 
tale relates to a dwelling-house near a disused 
sawmill in Oregon: 

"This house was left uninhabited for two years, 
and, being at some distance from the little settlement, 
it was frequently broken into by tramps who sought 
a shelter for the night. "When I entered this house 
I was astonished to see an immense rat's nest on the 
empty stove. On examining this nest, which was 
about five feet in height, and occupied the whole top 
of the stove (a large range), I found the outside to 
be composed entirely of spikes, all laid with sym- 
metry, so as to present the points of the nails out- 
ward. In the center of this mass was the nest, com- 
posed of. finely divided fibers of the hemp packing. 
Interlaced with the spikes we found the following: 
About three dozen knives, forks and spoons, all the 
butcher knives, three in number, a large carving knife, 
fork and steel, several large plugs of tobacco; the 
outer casing of a silver watch was disposed in one 
part of the pile, the glass of the same watch in 
another, and the works in still another ; an old purse 
containing some silver, matches and tobacco; nearly 
all the small tools from the tool closets, among them 
several large augers. Altogether it was a very curi- 
ous mixture of different articles, all of which must 
have been transported some distance, as they were 
originally stored in different parts of the house. 



104 



ANIMAL COMPETITORS 



1 ' The ingenuity and skill displayed in the construc- 
tion of this nest, and the curious taste for articles of 
iron, many of them heavy, for component parts, 
struck me with surprise. The articles of value were, 




A ROCKY-MOUNTAIN PACK-RAT. 

From Warren's "Mammals of Colorado." By Permission of G. P. 

Putnam's Sons. Photo by H. W. Nash. 



I think, stolen from the men who had broken into, 
the house for temporary lodging. I have preserved 
a sketch of this iron-clad nest, which I think unique 
in natural history. 

"Many curious facts have since been related to me 



WOOD-RATS, PACK-RATS, ETC. 105 

concerning the habits of this little creature. A miner 
told me the following: He once, during the mining 
excitement in Siskiyou County, became, in California 
parlance, 'dead broke,' and applied for and obtained 
employment in a mining camp, where the owner's 
hands and all slept in the same cabin. Shortly after 
his arrival small articles commenced to disappear; if 
a whole plug of tobacco were left on the table it would 
be gone in the morning. Finally a bag, containing 
one hundred dollars or more in gold dust, was taken 
from a small table at the head of a bunk in which 
one of the proprietors of the claim slept. Suspicion, 
fell on the newcomer, and he would perhaps feave » 
fared hardly, for with those rough miners punish- . 
ment is short and sharp ; but just in time a large rat's ; 
nest was discovered in the garret of the caftin, and( 
in it was found the missing money, as well as the? 
tobacco and other articles supposed to have beeni 
stolen." 

The destructive cotton-mi* It would be pos- 
sible to write extensively,, and perhaps enter- 
tainingly of a long list of other wild mice and 
rats^ such as our very pretty, white-footed 
WQod-monse (Peromyscus) which, in its vari- 
ous species and subspecies, is scattered all over 
the continent;; hut few of them have sufficient 
economic interest to justify it. There are times 
when any or ail may become dangerous by 



106 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

overmultiplication ; but the only sort now of 
importance in that direction is the southern 
cotton-rat (genus Sigmodon.) The common 
species (S. hispidum) is typically a denizen of 
the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to 
Florida, but its varieties extend the specific 
range westward to Mexico. The total length 
is 10-10% inches, two-fifths of which belongs 
to the tail. The color varies a good deal, but 
in general is a yellowish grizzle above, and 
ashy to whitish below. 

Their natural habits much resemble those 
of their neighbors, the pine mice, and like 
them they have not only surface runways but 
long galleries and nesting-places under the soil. 
They may be very numerous without attracting 
much attention because of this cryptic manner 
of life, and still more because they rarely come 
abroad until after dark. There have been 
times, as in 1889 in western-central Texas, 
when they swarmed in a regular i i plague, ' ' and 
played havoc with the corn-crop. They are 
especially numerous, always, along the borders 
of cotton-fields, and Bailey records that in 
Texas their runways are often fairly lined with 



WOOD-RATS, PACK-RATS, ETC. 107 

cotton that lias been pulled from the bolls and 
dragged under cover where its seeds can be 
eaten with safety, while a small amount is car- 
ried away for bedding. Considering the great 
area of the cotton-growing country, all infested 
with these busy pilferers, the aggregate loss of 
cotton must represent a large sum. 

."A simple and effective remedy/ ' as Bailey 
reminds the planter, " would be to clean out the 
borders of fields by burning the weeds, grass 
and rubbish accumulating along the fences 
year after year as a harbor for various rodent 
and insect pests and a perennial source of sup- 
ply for weed-seeds. If these borders were 
burned yearly, mowed and raked, treated with 
oil or chemicals to prevent weed-growth, closely 
pastured or thoroughly cultivated, the hawks 
and owls would quickly dispose of the rodents 
which would then have no protecting cover.' ' 

Jumping -mice, — Allied to the true or murine 
mice, and even more nearly to the Old World 
jerboas, are the jumping-mice, pocket-mice and 
kangaroo-rats of the family Zapodidce, — all in- 
teresting and beautiful little animals but not 
requiring much attention here, because their 



IOg ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

presence affects humanity iti a very trifling de- 
gree. 

The only representative in the East is the 
common tawny-red, large-eared jumping-mouse, 
often seen rushing away from under foot in 
amazing leaps. The hind legs and feet are 
tremendously developed, while the fore pair are 
exceedingly small and delicate. The nose is 
pointed, and the hairless tail very long, meas- 
uring 5 inches from root to tip, while the 
length of the body is only 3 inches. They sub- 
sist almost exclusively on weed-seeds, and go 
early to bed in warm grass-nests underground, 
where they remain in deep hibernation until 
late in the spring. 

In the arid West and in Mexico live numer- 
ous small cousins of the genus Perognathus, 
whose hind legs are less lengthened, and which 
have fur-lined pockets in their cheeks, tiny 
ears, gray or yellowish coats, pure white feet 
and under parts, and tails about the length of 
their bodies. They are rarely seen, because 
nocturnal; burrow in dry ground; and lay up 
stores of small seeds. They are easily caught 
in small traps baited with rolled oats (of which 



WOOD-RATS, PACK-RATS, ETC. 109 

all mice are extremely fond) ; and "unless as 
the result of a great reduction of mouse-hunt- 
ing birds and mammals, they will never be a 
pest." They are styled kangaroo-mice, or elf- 
mice. 

Western kangaroo-rats. A third group is 
that of the kangaroo-rats, found in all the 
arid valleys west of the Plains and south of 
northern Idaho and the Sacramento river. 
While not even remotely related to either kan- 
garoos or rats, they have been thus named on 
account of their long hind legs and tails, small 
hands, and their method of progressing by 
hops. One species, the desert kangaroo-rat, 
(Dipodomys) is distinguished by its large size, 
about twice that of the others (Perodipus). 

This large four-toed kangaroo-rat of the 
Great Basin and southern California is the one 
of most interest. It is about 5 inches from tip 
of nose to base of tail, and the tail is about 8 
inches long. Its legs and hind feet are dispro- 
portionately long, in striking contrast to the 
tiny front feet, or hands. The large head, 
prominent black eyes, and short ears give the 
animal a quaint appearance. The glossy coat 



Ill) ANIMAL COMPETITOKS 

is light sand-color over the upper parts and 
pure white below. The tail is white along the 
sides and for an inch at the tip. The fur-lined 
cheek-pouches are large enough to admit the tip 
of the little finger. 

These, and the smaller kangaroo-rats, are 
common over the drier parts of the valley coun- 
try, especially in the mellowest and sandiest 
soil; and Ernest Thompson Seton has made 
them the subject of one of his most accurate 
and charming descriptions of animal life. They 
are strictly nocturnal and are rarely seen alive, 
but their round burrows are conspicuous, and 
the paired tracks of their long hind feet may be 
seen every morning on the naked sands. The 
manner of traveling is by hops, or long leaps 
on the hind feet, while the tail serves as a 
balance and rudder, the tiny front paws being 
used only as hands. The burrows usually en- 
ter the side of a sandy hillock, dune, or embank- 
ment, and often extend 10 or 20 feet. They do 
not go deep into the ground, but if started at 
the base of an embankment they may penetrate 
through it below the water-level and tap the 
ditches, — mischief wholly accidental. Usually 



WOOD-EATS, PACK-RATS, ETC. Ill 

on entering the burrow before daylight in the 
morning they securely close the opening behind 
them by packing it full of fresh sand, doubtless 
to keep out snakes, weasels, and other unwel- 
come intruders. 

Their food consists mainly of the small seeds 
of native desert plants, but also includes a little 
grain. A part of the food is carried into their 
burrows for future use. They are never suffi- 
ciently abundant to seriously injure crops, but 
a year or two ago were found damaging vine- 
yards in the Santa Cruz Mountains, California, 
by biting off fruit-buds. The trouble was easily 
disposed of by scattering poisoned grain near 
their burrows. This course will always free a 
locality from them whenever they may become 
a little harmful. 



CHAPTEE VII 
THE GRAY GOPHERS 

This brings lis to another group of burrow- 
ing arid pouched rodents, which, however, are 
farSrom harmless — the gophers. This term is 
: giv%n in the Gulf States to a burrowing turtle, 
aftd in the Northwest to a striped ground- 
squirrel, but those here in view are the chunked, 
short-legged, blunt-nosed, short-tailed ground- 
diggers of the family GeomyidcB. 

They inhabit nearly the whole of the open 
country west of the Mississippi river not lifted 
into mountain ranges, and one species, locally 
called salamander (Geomys tuza), occupies 
large areas in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. 
The western plains are the home of two promi- 
nent species, the dark "common" one (Geomys 
bur sarius ) , formerly spread as far east of the 
Mississippi as the prairies extended and now 
dwelling between that river and the Rocky 
Mountains from near the Canadian line to the 

112 



THE GRAY GOPHERS 



113 



Gulf coast; the yellower, larger, chestnut- 
faced gopher (Cratogeomys castanops), occur- 
ring from Colorado southwestward ; and the 




NORTHERN GRAY GOPHER (TIIOMOMYS TALPOIDES). 
Photographed by H. K. Job, and reproduced by permission. 



smaller northern gray gopher, or mole-go- 
pher (Thomomys talpoicles), which is the fa- 
miliar of the Dakotas, Wyoming and the Cana- 



114 ANIMAL COMPETITOKS 

dian plains. West of the Rockies occur a large 
number of species, some very difficult to dis- 
tinguish from one another, of which the reddish 
Thomomys douglasi of the Columbia Eiver 
valley, and T. bottce (chestnut above, reddish 
brown below) of central and southern Cali- 
fornia, are most notable. In many regions 
they have increased rather than diminished 
with civilization, owing to the destruction of 
their natural enemies, to the loosening of the 
soil by plowing and to the vast increase of food 
afforded them by orchards, gardens and crops. 
Though several genera and species are sepa- 
rated by zoologists, from the farmer's point of 
view there is a substantial likeness, not only in 
their yellowish-gray or brownish, unmarked 
coats ; their big, thick heads ; their short strong 
legs; their almost invisible ears and eyes; the 
massive incisors and capacious furry cheek- 
pouches, opening outside the mouth; — but in 
the constant and fearful damage they work in 
the field, orchard and nursery. 

Burrowing poivers. The pocket-gopher digs 
as long as he lives, and generally all winter, for 
he does not hibernate, even at the coldest. All 



THE GRAY GOPHERS 115 

his life is passed underground, except when for 
an instant he emerges into the air to push a 
load of earth from a freshly opened hole. Ex- 
cept for one month of the year, the mating sea- 
son, all pocket-gophers live an entirely solitary 
life ; and like most other hermits, they are of an 
extremely surly disposition. They will fight 
viciously on all occasions, and they have for- 
midable weapons. 

In tunneling in the earth, they use their long 
and powerful front teeth as a pick to loosen the 
ground. At the same time the forefeet, which 
are armed with long curved claws, — the sides 
of the toes being lined in turn with bristles 
which prevent the dirt from passing between 
them, — are hard at work both in digging and 
in pressing the dirt back under the body. 
There the hind feet take it and push it farther 
back. 

When earth enough has been accumulated be- 
hind the gopher, he whirls about, and by bring- 
ing his" wrists together under the chin, with the 
palms of the hands held vertically, he pushes 
the earth out in front. He will move backward 
as rapidly as forward, and can push dirt either 



116 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

way. His movement in digging often seems as 
rapid and automatic as that of a shuttle. 

Except in times of deep frost, the burrows 
are seldom more than a foot underground, and 
generally about six inches. At intervals, often 
within a few feet, the gopher comes to the sur- 
face to throw up a little hill of dirt; but the 
opening which he makes is closed by being 




DIAGRAM OF A GOPHERS BURROWING. 

packed so full of dirt that no trace of the tunnel 
is visible except the little mound. 

The gopher goes on digging in winter as 
well as in summer ; but if the frost prevents him 
from coming to the surface, he uses a cross 
section of his tunnel into which to pack the 
earth which he has dug for his new excavations. 
These tightly packed cylinders of earth are 
often turned up by the plow. 

Pocket-gophers apparently breed only once a 



THE GRAY GOPHERS 117 

year, in the spring, when two to six young are 
produced in a litter in some roomy central 
chamber made comfortable with dry grass. 

Destructive to crops. "Throughout their 
range pocket-gophers are very destructive to 
crops. They eat the roots of fruit trees and 
in this way sometimes ruin whole orchards. 
They eat both roots and tops of clover, alfalfa, 
grasses, grains, and vegetables, and are espe- 
cially harmful to potatoes and other tuberous 
crops. Besides this, they throw up innumer- 
able mounds of earth in meadows, pastures, and 
grain fields, which cover and destroy far more 
of the crop than is eaten by the animals or 
killed by having the roots cut off. These 
mounds also prevent close mowing, so that 
much of the hay crop is lost, and the pebbles 
they contain often break or injure farm ma- 
chinery. The loss due to gopher mounds in the 
clover and alfalfa fields in some of the Western 
States has been conservatively estimated at 
one-tenth of the entire crop. In many of the 
fertile valleys where they abound the animals 
are by far the most formidable of the farmer's 
mammalian enemies. In addition to all this, 



118 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

in the far West they burrow in the banks of 
irrigation ditches and thus cause extensive 
breaks, the repair of which results in the ex- 
penditure of much time and money." (Lantz.) 

An enemy to orchard and forest. Re- 
cently, attention has been especially called to 
the injury done to orchards and nursery stock, 
often before the owner becomes aware of the 
presence of the animal, and it is evident that 
great watchfulness should be maintained by 
tree planters in gopher-infested country. This 
watchfulness should be especially alert where 
the orchardist, in order to prepare the soil, first 
raises and turns down crops of alfalfa, clover 
or cowpeas, sweet potatoes or sugar-beets. 
Any of these attract the rodents, and make 
their attacks more than likely upon the newly 
planted saplings. 

A gopher which in tunneling comes to a tree 
root attacks and eats through it. If the root 
is relished, it is followed and eaten close up to 
the tree trunk. Then another root is destroyed, 
and so on until the entire root system is gnawed 
away, wood and bark alike, leaving the trunk 
loose in the ground. 



THE GRAY GOPHERS 



119 



The rapidity with which the animal works 
is amazing. In his rare monograph on the fam- 
ily Merriam assures us that a pocket-gopher 
can make two hundred complete strokes with 
his teeth in a minute. Its jaws are so arranged 
that thirty-eight distinct single cuts are made 




SOUTHERN POCKET GOPHER (GEOMYS BURSARIUS). 
From a Painting by E. T. Seton. 



by the forward stroke of the jaw and twenty- 
eight by the backward stroke. Thus, the little 
creature's jaws may make a grand total of 
13,200 cut a minute when in active opera- 
tion! 

Large trees are sometimes entirely girdled 



120 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

just below the ground, the gopher cutting deep 
into the wood, causing immediate death. The 
girdling of large roots is also common. In 
California the fig seems to suffer most, but 
orange, lemon, apricot and all other fruit-trees 
are attacked. 

Complaints from western nurserymen of 
injury to their stock by pocket-gophers are 
frequent. The trees in nursery-rows are set 
small and close together. Consequently a go- 
j3her by following the rows can in a short time 
kill many trees. Such injury is usually done 
in late fall or winter, and the nurseryman is 
often unaware of it until spring. The gopher 
takes the entire root, not merely the bark, cuts 
it into short pieces, packs them into its enor- 
mous cheek-pouches, and carries them away to 
its food-caches, which sometimes contain half 
a bushel of such provender. Plantations of 
young trees for wind-breaks or ornament, or 
to afforest a district, are equally hurt ; in fact 
the gophers are worse than rabbits, because 
they work unseen and almost invariably kill in- 
stead of merely injuring the trees. Wherever 
they abound orchards are almost an impossi- 
bility. 



THE GRAY GOPHERS 121 

Tapping irrigation-ditches. Another most 
serious mischief, in regions depending on irri- 
gation, is the destruction of ditch-banks. Some- 
times the animals are forced out of irrigated 
land and take up new quarters in the dry ditch- 
banks, or in course of the regular extension of 
their tunnels a ditch is encountered and the 
bank is followed in search of a crossing-place. 
In either case the burrow is almost sure sooner 
or later to penetrate below the water-line and 
start a leak that cuts out the bank and empties 
the ditch. Altogether, it has been estimated by 
the Biological Survey that the loss due to go- 
phers in the western United States is not less 
than a million dollars a month. 

"No animals," the Survey declares, at the 
same time, "are more easily controlled on a 
small farm or along ditches than gophers. 
They are readily trapped or poisoned, and once 
cleared out of a field others do not come in at 
once. Their mode of travel, which is princi- 
pally by extending their burrows, is of ne- 
cessity slow; and if occasionally caught or 
poisoned around the edge of fields or along 
ditches, they can be effectually controlled." 



122 ANIMAL COMPETITOBS 

This implies that the damage done is largely 
the result of neglect on the farmer's part. 

The gopher as a soil-maker. In view of 
this record of harmfulness (due, of course, 
simply to mankind trying to modify nature for 
his own ends in the path of the animal's natural 
way of living, so that from nature's point of 
view the cultivator is the aggressor and the 
gopher merely defending himself and living off 
the enemy), it is only fair to point out how the 
animal, throughout the history of the species, 
has been laying the present farmer and ranch- 
man under his debt. 

"For unknown ages," declares Dr. C. Hart 
Merriam, in the monograph already referred 
to, "the gophers have been steadily at work 
plowing the ground, covering deeper and 
deeper the vegetable matter, loosening the soil, 
draining the land, and slowly but surely cul- 
tivating and enriching it." 

Ernest Thompson Seton illustrates this 
statement very forcibly by the example of 
Manitoba, — one of the richest soil-areas in the 
world — where, as elsewhere in northwestern 



THE GRAY GOPHERS 123 

Canada, there are no earthworms to act as pre- 
historic cultivators. The black loam there is 
from one to two feet thick, and is a thoroughly 
mixed soil of both mineral and vegetable par- 
ticles. There is no doubt that, in the absence 
of earth worms, this mixing is done by burrow- 
ing animals, by far the most important of which 
is our subject. In his great work, Life His- 
tories of the Northern Animals, Seton shows by 
text and drawings what an astonishing number 
of active gophers there are (or were) over 
every square mile of that and other regions; 
and the still more astonishing bulk of soil 
brought to the surface from deep layers day 
by day. He cites a district in California with 
an estimated average of 6,000 hills to the acre, 
and enough soil heaved out each summer to 
cover the whole with an inch of new earth ; and 
other similar cases elsewhere. "If the fertility 
of tens of millions of acres of land in the North- 
west, and consequently their value, has been 
mainly the work of moles [pocket-gophers]," 
declares Dr. Robert Bell, the Canadian geol- 
ogist, after giving proof for his thesis, "these 



124 



ANIMAL COMPETITOES 



apparently insignificant little creatures may 
be regarded as the most important of the native 
animals of the country." 

If Mr. Gopher could speak he would probably 
remind the agriculturist of this, and ask 
whether the delayed fees he was now exacting 
were too large for the service. 




CHAPTEE VIII 
SQUIRRELS, GOOD AND BAD 

A view of our tree-squirrels. The badge 
of the true squirrel is his plume-like tail, which, 
though it seems to our eyes only an elegant 
ornament, is to him a balancing-pole assist- 
ing his agile bounds from branch to branch, 
an umbrella by day, and a blanket when he 
withdraws to his hole for the night. No better 
type of this delightful group can be found than 
the red squirrel, — the genius of the American 
woods. He is exceedingly common, not at all 
shy, and recognized by almost everybody, yet 
few persons know really much about him. 
There is practically only one species on the 
continent, but local varieties differ much in 
size and colors. Those in the South are larger 
and redder, for example than those of Canada ; 
and on the Pacific coast, where they are called 
pine-squirrels, their coats are almost brown. 
Their colors vary also with the seasons, the 

125 



126 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

winter coat being paler and lacking the black 
side-stripe which so handsomely borders in 
summer the rufous mantle of the back. 

Red squirrels at home. The red squirrel's 
home is properly in some hollow of a tree or 




A NORTHWESTERN RED SQUIRREL. 
From a Photograph by James A. Donaghy, Elphinstone, Manitoba. 

stump, sometimes low down and hence danger- 
ously exposed to foxes, weasels and snakes. 
Frequently he chooses to live in a hole beneath 
tree-roots or some old stone wall, adapting to 
his purpose an abandoned chipmunk burrow 



SQUIRRELS, GOOD AND BAD 127 

or the hollow left by a rotting root, and extend- 
ing it into various connecting chambers. In 
the evergreen forests of northern New Eng- 
land and Canada, however, he often constructs 
a winter nest among the dense foliage of a 
spruce or cedar, which is a marvel of work- 
manship. "When convenient, ' ' to quote 
Cram's account of those familiar to him, "he 
chooses the nest of some large bird for a foun- 
dation, and in this builds a structure of moss, 
bark, pine-needles, and dead leaves, with walls 
several inches in thickness, and a soft nest of 
dry grass and feathers inside. The bark used 
is of two sorts, the rough outer bark of dif- 
ferent trees broken into small pieces, and what 
appears to be the inner bark of the red cedar, 
torn into narrow strips or ribbons to bind the 
whole together. It is put together with re- 
markable solidity, and usually freezes hard 
early in the winter, furnishing a thorough de- 
fense against the cold or any other enemy from 
without. The narrow opening at one side is 
provided with a hanging curtain. ' ' 

These tree-houses are, however, abandoned 
in the spring, when they become soaked with 



128 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

rain, and a hollow tree is sought and furnished 
with clean bedding of moss, lichens, etc. Here 
the young are born rather early in the season, 
— five or six of them, — and there they remain 
together until fully grown. 

"The young squirrels," to quote again Mr. Cram's 
delightful history, "are most absurd looking little 
beasts at first, like miniature pug-dogs, blind and 
naked, with enormous heads. In a few days their 
fur begins to show like the down on a peach, and as a 
fringe of short hair along each side of the tail, which 
at length assumes something of the flattened aspect 
of that worn by their elders, but without displaying 
much of the fluffy, shadowy quality of the ideal squir- 
rel tail until late in the following autumn. . . . 
Although they do not remain long in the nest, they 
are seldom seen abroad until fully grown, or very 
nearly so, at least, which is rather remarkable when 
you come to consider the number that are brought 
up each summer in every pine grove or thicket where 
these squirrels are abundant. . . ." 

How a red squirrel fares. The red squir- 
rel eats almost anything he can lay his teeth 
to, but his chief diet, of course, consists of 
berries, nuts, acorns and similar hard fruits, 
especially the seeds found in the cones of ever- 
green trees — the mainstay of those living in 



SQUIRRELS, GOOD AND BAD 129 

the far northern woods. In the early spring 
he must often content himself with buds, pre- 
ferring those of the maple and elm ; and it is a 
pretty sight to see him and his friends dangling 
from the tips of the swaying branches, peril- 
ously high, reaching for the bursting buds. In 
March he taps the maples for sap, cutting out 
little cups in the bark, in which the sugary 
liquid gathers and is lapped up, for he drinks 
like a cat. He climbs rotten stubs and, like 
the woodpecker, listens for noise made by in- 
sect larvae, which are quickly dug out. He 
searches for haws of the rose and thorn-trees, 
and hunts through the orchard for old apples 
now thawed soft. 

A little later, I am sorry to say, he is on the 
lookout for birds' eggs and young, of which 
he destroys far more than any other squirrel. 
No nest is safe from his inquisitive eye and 
eager appetite, even the Baltimore oriole's, but 
he is often driven away by the owners. Nest- 
lings are more to his taste than eggs, even ; and 
now and then he is able to catch small birds, 
or even mice and little snakes, while grass- 
hoppers and fat larvae are a regular part of 



130 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

his bill of fare. Few animals, remarks Manly 
Hardy, are more fond of meat: 

' ' They will eat any kind of meat or fish as quickly 
as a cat and will live on it days when a chance offers. 
I have often had them eat each other when one was 
in a trap. Around camps where provisions are stored 
they are great pests. Their sense of smell must be 
very acute, as I have seen where one gnawed a large 
hole through a new overcoat to get at a bottle of 
coffee which one of my men had rolled up inside to 
keep it warm. The squirrel must have smelled it 
through all the folds of the thick cloth. Where not 
troubled they soon become very tame, often coming 
into a camp and stealing biscuit or gingerbread from 
the table. I have seen those which certainly could 
tell one person from another, as they would let one 
who had never molested them come very near, while, 
when a person who had stoned them appeared, they 
would instantly dodge into a hole." 

As summer advances the red squirrel finds 
ripe berries and fruit to his taste, and in July 
begins, in the northern coniferous woods, to 
attack the green cones, especially of the white 
pine, cutting them off "and burying them, half 
a dozen in a place, under the pine needles, to 
be dug up in the winter and spring, and opened 
for the seeds they contain.' ' At this season, 



SQUIRRELS, GOOD AND BAD 131 

too, he bites into many mushrooms, especially 
those which grow upon old wood; and certain 
of these he stows away in dry places for future 
reference. 

Preparing for the winter. This squirrel is 
a hard worker at all times, — the merriest 
sprite of the woods, yet always industrious and 
thrifty ; but his busiest time is in autumn when 
the ripening nuts must be harvested. In the 
forests of the southerly portions of his range, 
butternuts, hickorynuts, and those of the 
chestnut, pecan, hazel and beech, with acorns 
and chinkapins, are most important. Their 
substance is not very nourishing, but they 
supply in abundance the fat which is so neces- 
sary for animals to accumulate in the autumn 
as a fuel to keep the fires of life burning dur- 
ing the winter. In the Southern States the 
winters are so mild that there is not the need 
to lay up the large food-supply required in the 
North, and methods vary, too. 

Instead of having a single storehouse, as do 
most other provident rodents, the red squirrels 
bury a part of their gains, one or a few nuts in 
a place, and hide the rest in a variety of nooks 



132 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

and crannies. It is thus difficult to judge what 
this scattered accumulation amounts to in the 
aggregate, but it is probably a good deal more 
than one animal wants. The little rascals seem 
to recognize no property rights in these sav- 
ings, but during the winter seize anything they 
can find, so that fierce fights are always happen- 
ing, in which the thievish grays take a full 
share. With a short account by Mr. Hardy of 
the cone-saving squirrels of the northern woods 
I will conclude this part of the subject: * 

Storing pine-cones. ''With us [in Maine] he lays 
up large stores of the cones of pine and spruce and 
knows the exact season when they are fit to cut for 
his use. If cut too early they will be sealed closely 
with pitch; if cut too late the winged seeds will have 
escaped. The red squirrel cuts them by the hundreds 
the last of September, just when the sticky covering 
has hardened into drops of stiff pitch and just before 
the cones have opened. One who is in the pine woods 
then will hear the dull, heavy thud as they fall, and 
if he gets a close view of the squirrel, will see that 
his paws and face are smeared with pitch. . . . 

i A full discussion of the meaning of this custom of storing 
food against a coming time of scarcity; and of its probable 
origin and development through the influence of natural selec- 
tion, will be found in the chapter entitled " A Squirrel's 
Thrift," in my Wit of the Wild, 2d edition, Dodd, Mead & Co., 
New York, 1911. 



SQUIRRELS, GOOD AND BAD 133 

"The squirrel knows exactly how to get the seed 
with the least labor. A squirrel wishing to eat a 
cone, sits up on his hind feet, standing the cone up 
before him on its small end. Then he cuts off the 
upper scale at the butt of the cone. These scales do 
not run in straight lines, but are arranged spirally, 
with a seed under each scale. The seeds in a white 
pine-cone are about the size and shape of a small 
apple-seed ; those of a spruce, about as large as seeds 
of turnip or mustard. Both kinds have a wing which 
serves to carry the seed often to long distances, when 
it falls naturally from the cone. The squirrel eats 
the first seed, then gives the cone a slight turn and 
cuts the next scale, and so keeps turning and eating 
until the central pith is in his way, when he cuts it 
off and continues eating until near the end of the 
cone, which he always leaves, as he knows that the 
seeds there are too small and poor to be of use to 
him." 

Gray squirrels and fox-squirrels. The red 
squirrel has been given so much space because 
his life is typical of that of the tribe, and be- 
cause he is not accurately known although so 
widespread and numerous. 

More familiar to most readers are the large 
"gray" and "fox" squirrels, both of which are 
very variable. Thus the northern gray squir- 
rels are at their best a clear silvery tint, while 



134 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

southward they become yellowish or rusty, and 
in some localities a black variety is prevalent. 
Well-grown specimens of this species are about 
18 inches long, including the splendid feather 
of the tail. West of the Alleglienies, to the 
border of the Plains, and as far north as South 
Dakota, lives the northern fox- or cat-squir- 
rel, which is larger (23.5 to 25.5 in.), and in 
general tint foxy red; but the species is ex- 
tremely variable, one large southern variety 
being wholly black save the white nose and ears, 
and a good deal of black and orange are likely 
to appear on any specimen, north or south. 
It may be mentioned here that Mexico has 
among its many species and races of squirrels 
perhaps the most beautiful of any in America, 
— the red-bellied. "Its upper surface is pale 
grizzled gray, and its under parts bright rusty 
red; it inhabits the forests of eastern Mexico, 
ascending the high mountains to an elevation 
of 8,000 feet.' ' 

It is only in the Appalachian region that the 
gray and the fox-squirrels meet. They are 
much alike in habits, and both have become 
bold acquaintances of civilized man, and are 



SQUIRRELS, GOOD AND BAD 135 

public pets in a thousand villages and urban 
parks. In some places, indeed, they are so 
numerous and bold as to injure gardens, and 
to work ruin in roofs and cornices by digging 
through them to make their nests inside. As 
pets in captivity they, like the reds, are not 
very desirable, since they grow cross with age, 
and if more than one is kept in a cage the 
strongest will probably kill or injure the others. 
If allowed the freedom of a room they will work 
havoc, and prove practically untamable. 

It is as easy and much better, however, to 
domiciliate them in the trees about the house, 
by placing high among the branches cabins 
(short sections of hollow logs are best), and 
protecting and feeding their tenants. They 
will come to a window-sill where you place 
regularly cracked nuts, grains of corn or bits 
of cracker, and you will enjoy their society 
much more in their free shy activity than if they 
were immured in a small wire jail. A good 
plan, if you like their visits to your window- 
sill, is to provide them with a pole-bridge from 
the nearest tree, as they are shy of going upon 
the ground where dogs and cats may be. 



136 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

Peculiarities of these larger squirrels. In 
one or two respects the gray and the fox-squir- 
rels differ decidedly from their smaller rela- 
tives. Instead of retiring to holes under- 
ground, they dwell in winter in holes in trees, 
coming out nearly every day to hunt and gambol 
about. They make great summer nests of leafy 
twigs in which the mother and young reside 
while the male squirrels lead a bachelor ex- 
istence, often with far wanderings. Their 
food is substantially the same as that of the 
reds, but they rarely rob the nests of birds, 
or are thievish of meat ; and their only method 
of storing food is by burying it, one nut or 
acorn in a place. That months later, when 
wind-blown leaves and perhaps deep snow cover 
the ground, they can recover these treasures 
is truly remarkable; but they seem to know pre- 
cisely where each nut is buried, and go directly 
to it, then dive down through the snow and 
presently reappear with the morsel in their 
teeth. It would seem improbable that this is 
an effort of memory, and more likely that a cer- 
tain amount of memory is aided by the faculty 
of smell. Often after finding one buried nut 



SQUIRRELS, GOOD AND BAD 137 

they bore their way beneath the snow here and 
there in search of others, and so get a whole 
meal. 

These squirrels are so large and toothsome 
that they have always been reckoned among 
our game animals, and years ago were to be 
seen in every market in the land. Now this is 
less common, because they have become scarce 
in many parts of the country. No longer, then, 
are they accused by farmers of being a pest; 
but a century ago they certainly were so all 
along the frontier. That was the time when 
occasionally vast migrations descended upon 
the fields of corn in the milk, ruining the crop ; 
and for years great sums in bounties were paid 
for their destruction in Pennsylvania and Ohio. 
A very full account of this matter, and of the 
gray squirrel generally, may be found in the 
first chapter of my Wild Neighbors, 

The gray squirrel of California is a separate 
species, larger and brighter than the eastern 
gray. Along the Mexican border occur several 
allied species, more or less marked with yellow 
and reddish, of which the handsomest is 
Abert's, which has a band of chestnut along the 



138 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

spine, side-stripes of black, white underparts 
and feet, and tufted ears. It is also found in 
the mountains of Colorado. 

The squirrel that flies. All squirrels are 
clever at falling. They often slip at great 
heights, and when they can not clutch a lower 
branch will turn in the air, spread out their 
legs and usually alight without harm. The 
skin is loose, and is pulled far out when the 
legs are widely stretched; and in one sort the 
side fold is so ample as to form a regular para- 
chute, enabling the animal to make long slides 
through the air; it becomes, in fact, a living 
aeroplane. This is the flying-squirrel, the 
prettiest fourfoot in the American woods. 

There are two species. One dwells in north- 
ern Canada, measuring 14 inches in length, 
and is cinnamon-brown above (sooty in winter), 
with a black ring around the eye, and the fur 
of the whitish underparts gray near the roots. 
A smaller variety occurs in the St. Lawrence 
Valley. The other species is the common one 
of the eastern and southern half of the Union, 
which is only about 9.5 inches in length. Its 
fur is dense and exquisitely soft, with the tail 



SQUIRRELS, GOOD AND BAD 139 

almost as flat as a feather; the. color is drab 
above, irregularly tinged with russet, while the 
hair of the underparts is pure white to the 
roots. Cram notes the "protective" similarity 
of their clouded cream-buff colors, to the lichens 
on the trees to whose bark they often cling 
motionless for long periods. They are not 
much exposed to any but nocturnal enemies, 
such as owls and the weasel tribe, however, so 
that this similitude cannot have much practical 
importance. They are forest folk, haunting 
the hardwood groves, and few farmers suspect 
how many of these tenants profit by the old 
stubs left along the edges of their clearings. 
Really they are tenants of the woodpeckers, who 
are good enough not to occupy one of their care- 
fully dug nesting-holes twice, but to leave it to 
the occupancy, rent-free, of squirrels, chick- 
adees, little owls and other feebler neighbors. 
The squirrels are capable, however, of carving 
out a deep hole for themselves, or will take 
possession of some natural cavity, and in it 
arrange a luxurious bed of shredded bark, etc., 
mingled with the fur they shed plentifully in 
the fall. Sometimes many will room together 



140 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

in a large cavity. Now and then a pair will 
form an outdoor ball-like home in some old 
bird's-nest; or will even invade the garret of 
the farmhouse. 

Charm of the flying -squirrel. Strike one of 
these tall stubs a smart blow with an ax or stone 
and the squirrels will come pouring out of their 
hole and go sailing away to neighboring trees 
like birds. They alight near the bases of the 
trunks and scamper upward to prepare for an- 
other glide, but unless sharply pursued will 
quickly turn to have a curious look at their dis- 
turber. Their " flights' ' are made upon the 
parachute of loose skin which extends in a furry 
fold down to the feet, and is further supported 
by a slender curved bone hinged to the back of 
the wrist, while the flat tail acts as both balancer 
and rudder as in a bird. When starting from 
a high perch, and going down hill, they may 
sail 200 or 300 yards; but have little or no 
power of deviating from the straight line of the 
intended leap, yet make a quick upward curve 
as they alight. Audubon and Bachman have 
given a delightful account of their gambols on 



SQUIRRELS, GOOD AND BAD 141 

summer evenings near Philadelphia, about 
1840: 

' ' During the half -hour before sunset nature seemed 
to be in a state of silence and repose. The birds had 
retired to the shelter of the forest. The night-hawk 
had already commenced its low evening flight, and 
here and there the common red bat was on the wing; 
still for some time not a flying-squirrel made its 
appearance. Suddenly, however, one emerged from 
its hole and ran up to the top of a tree ; another soon 
followed, and ere long dozens came forth and com- 
menced their graceful flights from some upper branch 
to a lower bough. . . . Crowds of these little 
creatures joined in these sportive gambols; there 
could not have been less than 200. Scores of them 
would leave each tree at the same moment, and cross 
each other, gliding like spirits through the air, seem- 
ing to have no other object in view than to indulge a 
playful propensity. ' ' 

Family life of the flying-squirrel. Not very 
much is known of the winter life of the 
ordinary or southern flying-squirrels, but they 
seem to retire to their warm nests as soon as 
cold weather comes, and to stay there until 
spring. This would mean hibernation, or else 
the storing of food in their holes ; and that 
the latter is their habit would seem indicated 



142 ANIMAL COMPETITOKS 

by the actions of captives to be mentioned 
presently; but if so it presents a curious 
anomaly to the rule, for it is certain that the 
large northern species, although dwelling in 
much colder regions, where proper food is ap- 
parently scarcer, does neither, but goes abroad 
every evening, no matter how severe may be 
the cold, to get its subsistence, and fares well. 
The young are born in early spring, and when 
about six weeks old begin to appear at the door 
of their house, playing about like kittens under 
the watchful care of their mother. 

''And what a lovely little mother she is! She 
takes the greatest care of them from the time they 
are born. She tucks them under her, pulls the cedar 
bark over them and blocks up the entrance on cold 
days to keep them warm. If you put your finger 
into the hole she will rake all the babies out of harm 's 
way with her front paws, and then with her nose she 
will make a determined effort to push your finger 
out of the hole again. Failing in that, she will not 
bite you, as a red squirrel would have done at the 
beginning, but she will probably take your finger 
gently in her teeth, as though to ask you please to 
be a gentleman and refrain from causing her any 
further annoyance. 

' ' Even if you remove the young ones from the nest 
she will not bite you, but she will come out after 



SQUIRRELS, GOOD AND BAD 143 

them at once in evident distress. If they are near 
the mouth of the hole, so that she can reach them 
without leaving the nest entirely, she puts out her 
head, seizes the youngsters by the neck or back with 
her teeth and pulls them in after her, one by one. 
But if she has to leave the nest altogether she picks 
the children up, turns around and pushes them into 
the hole before her. A flying-squirrel once disturbed 
in this way is not likely to allow the matter to pass 
unheeded. She is almost sure to remove her family 
to a new home at the first opportunity." 

Taken young, and fed on milk and vegetables 
until they get their growth, they form delight- 
ful pets, though mischievous ones, unless 
their activity is curbed. It is from captive 
specimens, indeed, that we have learned most 
that we know as to the habits, tastes and dispo- 
sitions of these secretive little creatures. 



CHAPTER IX 

GROUND-SQUIRRELS AND PRAIRIE- 
DOGS 

We come now to the ground-squirrels, which 
are of small size, have flat and comparatively 
short tails, and keep near the earth, living be- 
neath it and deriving their food from weeds 
and low bushes for the most part. There are 
scores of species which fall into two groups, — 
the striped chipmunks of the eastern and north- 
ern woods, and the unstriped spermophiles of 
the western plains. 

The chipmunks. Our familiar chipmunk is 
the only eastern representative of this large 
group, and is seen everywhere. In size and 
manners he is much like the saucy red squirrel, 
but the five black stripes alternating with two 
whitish ones on his chestnut coat (fading 
through yellowish on the sides into a white 
vest), distinguish him in an instant. His race 
extends clear across the continent and to 
Alaska, wherever timber grows, but the western 

144 



GROUND-SQUIRRELS 145 

varieties differ so much in size and tint that 
the early naturalists made several species. 

"This squirrel," to quote the pleasant 
phrases of Dr. Godman, "is most generally 
seen scudding along the lower rails of the com- 
mon zigzag or 'Virginia' fences, which afford 
him at once a pleasant and secure path, as, in 
a few turns, he finds a safe hiding place be- 
hind the projecting angles, or enters his burrow 
undiscovered. When . . . his retreat is 
cut off he . . . runs up the nearest tree, 
uttering a very shrill cry or whistle, indicative 
of his distress, and it is in this situation that 
he is most frequently made captive by his per- 
secuting enemies, the mischievous schoolboys." 

No animal is better prepared than the chip- 
munk to withstand the cold and hunger of a 
northern winter, for he has learned how to con- 
struct a model home and to provision it well. 

The burrow and its furniture. This is a 
burrow which usually begins beside a stone or 
among the roots of a tree where it will not at- 
tract notice, moreover all the earth that is taken 
from the hole is scattered at a distance in order 
not to betray the excavation. It is first carried 



146 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

straight down in a narrow shaft below the frost 
line, then turns and winds away horizontally, 
and as the tunnels are used year after year, 
with continual enlargements, old ones may 
reach to a great length, with branches and 
chambers accommodating several pairs, and 
secret exits. In the autumn one of the under- 
ground chambers is furnished with soft bedding 
and becomes the living-room of a family, while 
other chambers are stored with provender or 
set apart as receptacles for refuse. Now the 
chipmunk becomes exceedingly busy, fattening 
himself upon the ripening nuts and seeds, not 
only, but upon many tuberous roots, mushrooms 
and green corn. On each side of his mouth, 
separated from it by thin partitions of muscu- 
lar skin, are large cavities or pouches, opening 
behind the teeth, which are as useful to him as 
are our baskets and wheelbarrows to us. He 
brings to the surface in them the material ex- 
cavated from the distant ends of his burrow, 
and after packing them full of seeds or nuts he 
returns to empty their loads — perhaps half a 
pint at a time — in one of his storehouses. All 
the ground-squirrels have such cheek-pouches; 



GROUND-SQUIRRELS 147 

and so they can speedily gather, while they are 
plenty, the large stores they need to preserve 
life during the long season of famine ahead; 
and snug in their warm nests deep under the 
sod, they doze away the winter, now and then 
emerging when the February sun tempts them 
out, but for the most part lying close, yet not 
in complete dormancy. 

Taking the freedom of the camp. These 
cheerful little fellows, and especially the four- 
striped Rocky Mountain kind, are extremely 
numerous in the rougher parts of the West, and 
are amusing visitors at every camp and cabin 
until they wear out their welcome by misbe- 
havior. In some of the national forests they 
have proved a great nuisance by digging up 
newly planted tree-seeds. 

"In camp," writes an explorer of Mt. Shasta, "they 
made frequent visits to the mess-box, which they 
clearly regarded as public property, approaching it 
boldly and without suspicion, and showing no concern 
at our presence — in marked contrast to the . golden- 
mantled squirrels, which approached silently, stealth- 
ily, and by a circuitous route, in constant fear of 
detection. If disturbed while stuffing their cheek- 
pouches with bits of bread, pancake, or other eatables, 



148 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

each chipmunk usually seized a large piece in its 
mouth and scampered off, returning as soon as we 
withdrew. In fact they made themselves perfectly 
at home in camp." 

The striped gopher and spermophile. A 
variety of this species, the sage-chipmunk of 











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Kjg 










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. 


»"Z 'ir ir *** ' " 


';."** "**•' ' ' '• • - ' 




^^**S§i#** 


^.^ \^%»s 



TWO SPECIES OF ROCKY-MOUNTAIN CHIPMUNKS. 

From Warren's "Mammals of Colorado." By Permission of G. P. 

Putnam's Sons. Photo by H. W. Nash. 

the Great Basin, is the smallest and sprightliest 
of the race. It lives mainly in the sage-brush, 
scrambling about these diminutive bushes or 
scampering from one to the other, and often 
sitting on the top of a sage-bush eating the 
little seeds from its hands; but, like other 



GEOUND-SQUIERELS 149 

squirrels they vary their seed-diet with insects. 
It is a relative of these chipmunks, marked by 
thirteen stripes, dark brown on rusty yellow, 
which is known throughout the Northwest, from 
Lake Michigan to Alberta, as the "striped 
gopher,' ' and as a pest to farmers on account 
of the grain it steals and the runways for water 
its burrows make. Still worse are several 
other northwestern ground-squirrels which 
have plain yellowish-gray coats and are known 
as "gray gophers," though the term "gopher" 
should be restricted to the Geomys; the most 
familiar is Franklin's spermophile. 

This graceful animal was originally abundant 
as far south as central Missouri and Illinois, 
but long ago disappeared before the civilizing 
of its prairie home, and now remains numerous 
only in the wilder districts of the Dakotas and 
northward. It is pretty and interesting, but 
too much of an impediment to good agriculture 
to permit the farmer to tolerate it ; yet the an- 
imal increases so rapidly under the protective 
and food- supplying conditions which the hu- 
man settlement of the country brings it, that 
its extermination will be a matter of great dim- 



150 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

culty. Referring to this matter Dr. Merriam 
made the following appealing remarks in a re- 
cent paper on these pests in California: 

Striped spermophiles exist along the grassy 
eastern border of the plains right down to the 
Gnlf of Mexico; and Texas has, besides, a 
beantifnl little "sand-squirrel," spotted with 
white on a yellowish ground, relieved by black 
markings. It is a shy, inconspicuous little 
creature, rarely noticed until it attracts atten- 
tion by a fine trilling bird-like whistle. These 
and other spermophiles are most numerous 
where the mesquit grows, for its seeds afford 
them good food. They are fond, too, of the 
fruit of the small prickly pear, the sand-bur, 
and other shrubs and weeds, and eat many 
grasshoppers and other insects. The graceful 
antelope-squirrel, taking its name from its col- 
ors, is another species conspicuous for its 
beauty, carrying its short, wide, white-lined tail 
curled over its back like a plume. All these 
burrow at the edge of thickets and cactus 
clumps and apparently hibernate. Sometimes 
they do much damage by boring through the 
banks of irrigating ditches. Another south- 



GROUND-SQUIRRELS 151 

western group includes the rock-squirrels, 
which are never seen far from cliffs or broken 
ledges. Bailey tells us that they climb the trees 
for acorns and berries, but when surprised al- 
ways rush to the ground and scamper away to 
the nearest rock-pile. They are extremely 
wary. "Like most of the smaller ground- 
squirrels of the arid regions they usually bur- 
row under a cactus or some low thorny bush, 
where they obtain shade and the protection of 
thorny cover. They apparently do not hiber- 
nate, but during the cold weather have the un- 
squirr el-like habit of closing their burrows and 
remaining inside, as a protection against en- 
emies, and especially snakes. . . . Like 
other members of the genus, these ground- 
squirrels feed on seeds, grain, fruit, green 
foliage, lizards, and numerous insects, and 
often gather around gardens and green fields, 
where they do considerable damage in spring 
by digging up corn, melons, beans and various 
sprouting seeds, and, in summer and fall, by 
feeding on the ripening grain." 

Squirrels and bubonic plague. One of these 
ground-squirrels, that most common in central 



152 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

and southern California (Clitellus beecheyi) 
has special prominence in onr list because it 
shares with the rat the bad distinction of being 
a dangerous carrier of plague-germs. It was 
observed as early as 1903, as we learn from Pro- 
fessor Doane's book previously alluded to, that 
an epidemic was killing these ground-squirrels 
in the neighborhood of San Francisco bay. 
The matter was at once investigated by Dr. Eu- 
pert Blue, of the U. S. Public Health and 
Marine Hospital Service, who speedily ascer- 
tained that the disease was bubonic plague, 
which had probably been caught from the town 
rats which at harvest time wander into the 
country in large numbers and make free use of 
the holes and runways of the field-squirrels. 
A single infected rat might sow the seeds, for 
its fleas, escaping, from its dead body, would 
readily attach themselves to a squirrel and 
multiply and spread among them. Among the 
tens of thousands killed and examined a con- 
siderable number of infected ones have been 
found; and several instances are recorded in 
which human cases of plague in California 
resulted from handling infected squirrels. 



PRAIRIE-DOGS 153 

Whether the disease has been exterminated 
among these wild rodents, remains to be seen. 
The fact that the Beechey ground-squirrels 
have shown themselves receptive to the fleas 
which are peculiar to brown rats, and to the 
disease, led to observations and experiments as 
to other rodents. It is found that rock-squir- 
rels are quite readily infected, mice and 
pouched gophers less so, but wood-rats and 
prairie-dogs succumbed at once. There seems 
no reason to suppose that any rodent may not 
carry the fleas about in its fur a short time, if 
not permanently ; or that any rodent is immune 
against the plague if punctured by an infected 
flea. A ray of light is shed upon this dark as- 
pect of the case by the announcement that along 
with the fleas goes a small staphylinid beetle 
which exists as a parasite on both rats and 
squirrels, and feeds ravenously on the fleas. 

Importance of the prairie-dog. But of all 
the ground-squirrels none equals the prairie- 
dog in interest or importance. 

It is a denizen of the dry plains east of 
the Rockies, while two or three other species 
inhabit the mountains, the Utah basin, and 



154 



ANIMAL COMPETITOES 



southward into Mexico. This animal is some- 
times confused towards the north with the 




A. Mound/ 

2>. Funnel jha/ted entrance to burrow 

C. Mam/nassaqz4''2 inch uvdutmettr 
_ about 15 fe&ut length' , , ., 
D.jforuontal/iajsay&tfeelcnknyt/i,. 

E. Unused nesUfdUdu/Uh earUu re/use. 

F. Unused/tart of/toruontal/tassaqe 
/Med with cca-Ut etc ( 4- tet Urny) 

G .NuJ^larqc avouaklar one prairie daej 

H./ltestoJ ' grcUS(ltt,nchinduaMxettrby9 

ches itfkeic/M) 
d. Absorbent mailer carryuiy bual/thide 

of carbon. 
K.Poiitipn ofn-curiedo<is as found after 

use ofbuidjilude of -carbon 
LjJejtili of horuontal pcusaqe. Wfut 

7 inches 



DIAGRAM OF A PRAIRIE-DOG'S BURROW. 

larger gray gophers, especially the Columbian 
and Franklin's, so that we wrongly hear of 



PRAIRIE-DOGS 155 

"prairie-dogs" on the Canadian plains; it is to 
be distinguished by its slightly larger size, dis- 
tinctly brownish color, and very short tail 
(two inches), which is flat and black toward the 
end. 

The prairie-dog is about a foot long, and 
robust, with strong limbs and claws. It dwells 
in colonies, whose permanent "towns" of bur- 
rows, each marked by a hillock of earth about 
the entrance, spread densely over many acres 
under the natural prehistoric conditions, but 
now sometimes cover hundreds of square miles. 
The burrows are deep and extensive, and at 
first go down at a very steep slope to a depth 
of twelve to fifteen feet, when they turn hori- 
zontally, and here and there branch into cham- 
bers, some of which are family rooms, while in 
others fodder is stored, or refuse and dung are 
deposited. The mound about the hole is 
packed hard, not only by the tramping of the 
animals, but by crowding it down with their 
noses ; this hillock prevents water from running 
into the burrows when the plain is flooded by 
heavy rains, and also serves as a tower of ob- 
servation. 



156 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

"The prairie dogs feed upon grass and herbage, 
which is soon exhausted near the burrows, compelling 
the animals to go farther and farther away for food. 
This they dislike to do, as it exposes them to attack 
from enemies; and after a time they prefer to dig a 
new burrow nearer a supply of food. Thus a 'town' 
is always spreading and contains many empty bur- 
rows. Like other animals habituated to desert re- 
gions, they do not drink at all. . . . The animals 
are diurnal and most active morning and evening. 
They come out daily during the winter, except when 
it is very stormy; but this practice varies with the 
latitude and climate. 

"They are prolific, especially in the southern half 
of their territory, and would multiply with excessive 
rapidity were it not for numerous enemies, especially 
rattlesnakes and other serpents. These are coura- 
geously resisted by the prairie dogs, who sound the 
alarm the moment a snake enters a hole, gather, and 
proceed to fill the entrance with earth, packing it 
down, thereby sometimes entombing the snake for- 
ever. Probably few snakes go clown the passages, 
which are so steep they could with difficulty climb 
out, but depend upon lying hidden in the grass and 
striking down the young squirrels when out at play 
or in search of food. This is the method of the 
coyote, kit-fox, wildcat, hawks, and owls, who find 
the dog-towns a profitable hunting-ground. Badgers, 
however, can, if they will, easily dig up a burrow 
and devour the helpless family. The worst enemy is 
the black-footed ferret, a weasel of the plains, which 



PRAIRIE-DOGS 157 

easily penetrates the burrows, and against whose 
ferocity and skill the squirrels can make little defense. 
' ' All these conditions together served in the natural 
state of things to hold the prairie-dogs in check, but 
the changes brought about by civilization have been so 
favorable to these little animals, by the reduction of 
their enemies on the one hand, and the augmentation 
on the other hand of their food supplies by the farm- 
ers' plantations of meadow grass, alfalfa, and grain, 
that they have increased into a very serious pest. ' ' 

A serious pest-problem. How serious this 
pest lias become in the grazing regions of 
western Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, may be 
inferred from the information furnished by 
Vernon Bailey in his report upon the condi- 
tions in Texas in 1905. 

"Usually," he states, "they are found in scattered 
colonies, or * dog-towns,' varying in extent from a 
few acres to a few square miles, but over an extensive 
area lying just east of the Staked Plains they cover 
the country in an almost continuous and thickly in- 
habited dog-town, extending from San Angelo north 
to Clarendon in a strip approximately 100 miles wide 
by 250 miles long. Adding to this area of about 25,- 
000 square miles the other areas covered by them, 
they cover approximately 90,000 square miles of the 
State, wholly within the grazing district. It has been 
roughly estimated that the 25,000-square-miles colony 
contains 400,000,000 prairie-dogs. If the remaining 



158 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 



iww» 



£*\.\ gf 



: 




: 








Wj% _. . ; ■-:■ >^ ; 


. ' 


\&?~~ ' r : -. • ' ' J: jS 








WsS^r^^S&^^r- ', - r: S . 



¥?-^*r-£&&-''* 



SCENES IN PRAIRIE-DOG LIFE. 



PBAIRIE-DOGS 159 

65,000 square miles of their scattered range in the 
State contains, as seems probable, an equal number, 
the State of Texas supports 800,000,000 prairie-dogs. 
According to the formula for determining the relative 
amount of food consumed by animals of different 
sizes, this number of prairie-dogs would require as 
much grass as 3,125,000 cattle. 

"In many places the prairie-dogs are increasing 
and spreading over new territory, but on most of the 
ranches they are kept down by the use of poison, or 
bisulphid of carbon, or, better, by a combination of 
the two. As a Texas cattle ranch usually covers from 
10,000 to 100,000 acres, the expense of destroying the 
prairie-dogs in the most economical manner often 
means an outlay of several thousand dollars to begin 
with and a considerable sum each year to keep them 
down. The increase of prairie-dogs is clearly due to 
the destruction of their natural enemies. . . . 

"In autumn the prairie-dogs become fat, but in 
Texas they do not hibernate as they do to some extent 
in the North. If their fur should become fashionable, 
or roast prairie-dog an epicurean dish, the problem 
of keeping them in check would be settled, and there 
is no reason, save their name, for not counting them, 
properly prepared and cooked, a delicacy. While 
owing their name to a chirping or 'barking' note of 
warning, they are in reality a big, plump, burrow- 
ing squirrel of irreproachable habits as regards food 
and cleanliness. An old stage driver expressed the 
idea in graphic words one day : * If them things was 
called by their right name, there would not be one 



160 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

left in this country. They are just as good as squir- 
rel, and I don't believe they are any relation to 
dogs.'" 

Since the citation above was written the pub- 
lic suppressive measures taken in Kansas have 
reduced the pest to negligible proportions ex- 
cept in the remote northwestern counties. 

The woodchucks. These large ground-squir- 
rels bridge the gap between the true squirrels 
and the marmots, as they are called in the Old 
World, known to us "woodchucks" or "ground- 
hogs." They are stout, short-legged, inactive 
animals, with short tails and closely appressed 
ears, whose dense fur is grizzled gray, in- 
clined to chestnut or blackish, and whose habits 
are distinctly terrestrial. Our eastern wood- 
chuck is found everywhere east of the Plains 
in all open woodlands, prairies or cultivated 
regions, for he thrives in the midst of civil- 
ization, whose cleared fields are to his liking, 
while he is furnished an abundance of food 
by the raising of field and garden crops. 
Few animals are so familiar to the country 
boy, who early becomes acquainted with its 
burrows in the hillsides, but rarely has the 



PKAIRIE-DOGS 161 

courage to dig the owner out of their tortuous 
depth. In the West are other similar species; 
and all the high mountains from the Eockies 
westward, and far to the North, have a larger 
one which dwells near timber-line, and is known 
as the siffleur (whistler) on account of its clear 
sharp call. The food of all these marmots con- 
sists of herbage and succulent roots, and they 
do great damage in gardens where not re- 
strained. They do not store any of this food, 
however, but in the early autumn retire to their 
burrows, very fat, and pass the winter in a 
state of complete torpor, during the continu- 
ance of which their fatness decreases, being ab- 
sorbed to sustain the trifling exertion of life 
caused by the continued slow beating of the 
heart. When, therefore, they emerge early in 
the spring, they are lean and very weak, but 
soon recuperate on the fresh grass and herbage. 
Their fur is of little value, and their flesh poor, 
so that as game they are attractive only to the 
boy and his dog, or, in the West, to hungry In- 
dians. 

Food-value of the porcupine. Here, if any- 
where, should be said a few words about the 



162 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

sluggish, stupid northern porcupine, whose re- 
lation to man is far more to the good than to 
the bad. It is true that he strips a few forest 
trees of their foliage, and occasionally inad- 
vertently girdles one; but his flesh is excellent 
eating and large in quantity. His nature and 
habits make it possible to approach him with- 
out difficulty and to kill him with a club. 
Hence he has always been a reliance of the 
forest-dwelling Indians and white fur-hunters 
for winter food, and now it is of so much impor- 
tance in the great forested regions of the 
Northern States, and in Canada, that timber- 
cruisers and others whose business takes them 
into the wilderness should be able to find a 
porcupine in such emergencies as are always 
likely to arise in their adventurous lives, espe- 
cially in winter, that the animal is protected 
by law; and this law is well lived up to by the 
frontier folks for they appreciate its impor- 
tance. 

At the same time it must be confessed that 
porcupines make themselves very troublesome 
in camps or about houses in the woods which 
are left alone for a time, as often happens 



PEAIRIE-DOGS 163 

« 
among loggers and miners amid the western 

mountains. The porcupines at once make 
themselves at home, and if they can get inside 
will demolish nearly every wooden thing in their 
search for food, and their enjoyment of nib- 
bling anything salty. As salt pork and bacon 
enter largely into the provisions of these 
people, their tables, cupboards and utensils are 
likely to be more or less spotted if not satu- 
rated with salty grease; and the. porcupine 
knows no reason why he should not get to the 
last taste. 



CHAPTER X 
RABBITS, USEFUL AND INJURIOUS 

Rabbits hold a prominent place among the 
obstacles to success met with by both the 
farmer and the orchardist. They number many 
species, and one or more is present in any 
habitable part of the continent to which yon 
may refer. The East has in its middle and 
southern part the familiar and widely distrib- 
uted gray rabbit or Molly Cottontail, which ex- 
tends westward to the plains ; and the smaller, 
and redder swamp-rabbit of the South; while 
in our northeastern States and in eastern 
Canada the larger American or varying-hare, 
which turns white in winter, is present, and con- 
stitutes the principal winter fare of such 
worthy animals as the lynx, wolf, fox and vari- 
ous martens, and of some hawks and owls. In 
the West the great jack-rabbits abound, and in 
the far North the arctic white hares. 

Excellence of rabbit-flesh. To the native 
164 



RABBITS 165 

people of our forests and plains rabbits were 
of the utmost importance as food, especially in 
winter. The early pioneers everywhere re- 
lied largely on them. Their thick fur too, was, 
and is, a precious resource to the Indians, es- 
pecially those of the Northwest, who make from 
it artistic as well as substantial garments and 
coverings. 

The smaller American rabbits have long been 
esteemed as game. While their flesh is less 
tender than that of the domesticated species 
it is of much finer flavor, and when properly 
prepared for the table is much more desirable 
as food. With -the same care in dressing and 
handling bestowed upon the rabbit in English 
markets, our cottontail rabbit would stand 
much higher in popular flavor. The jack-rab- 
bits are not so good, yet many reach the 
market. 

A strong prejudice against eating jack-rab- 
bits often exists because occasional individuals 
are infested by warbles and the tapeworm 
larva. Unless badly affected, however, the flesh 
is not injured by these parasites, and there is 
no good reason why the animals should not be 



166 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

extensively used as food. The half-grown or 
nearly full-grown young of the year are usually 
healthy and very good eating when properly 
cooked. Those not needed for the table may 
be fed to dogs and poultry, but should be 
cooked. The principal natural enemies of 
jack-rabbits are coyotes, foxes, bobcats, hawks, 
owls, and eagles. When rabbits become abun- 
dant these enemies gather to feast on them, and 
then at least should be afforded protection. 

Eabbit fur is not in demand in this country 
except for trimmings, since it is brittle, has no 
underfur, and does not wear well ; but from one 
and a half to two million skins are bought an- 
nually to be made into felt for hats and similar 
purposes, and it might be well for farm-boys to 
enquire whether they could not profitably trap 
or shoot in their neighborhood for this and the 
flesh market. 

General breeding-habits. Our American rab- 
bits are not so prolific as the common Euro- 
pean species. Some of them produce three or 
four litters of young in a season, while others 
seem to breed but twice. The period of gesta- 
tion is about thirty days, and the breeding sea- 



RABBITS 167 

son is from April to September or even later. 
The young are produced in natural depressions 
under rocks, stumps, or weeds, or in shallow 
burrows made by other animals. When these 
are lacking, the female scratches a shallow hole 
under a bunch of grass or weeds, makes a nest 
of leaves or grasses and lines it with fur from 
her own body. Here the young, averaging in 
most of our species about four, are produced; 
they are fully furred and have their eyes open 
when born. 

The female, while caring for her young, re- 
mains in the vicinity of the nest. If enemies 
approach, she runs away for a short distance; 
but when the young are attacked and cry out, 
she has been known to fight desperately in their 
defense, and even to vanquish such a formidable 
foe as a cat or a snake. When attacking, she 
jumps and strikes the enemy with her hind 
feet — members capable of a powerful blow, as 
many a boy who has captured a live rabbit can 
testify. 

Young rabbits are attended and suckled in 
the nest for about three weeks, after which they 
are left to shift for themselves. Since sue- 



168 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

culent food is usually abundant, this is not a 
difficult task, and they soon adapt themselves 
to an independent life. Apparently the mother 
takes no further interest in the career of her 
offspring. The male parent is probably never 
concerned in the care of the young. 

Injury to gardens and orchards. The cot- 
tontail is fond of frequenting farms and planta- 
tions, and having taken up its residence in some 
chosen fence-corner or thicket remains near it, 
feeding upon the succulent vegetables in the 
farmer's garden, or the clover, turnips, or corn 
in his fields. In the fall it feasts upon apples, 
cabbages, turnips, and the like left exposed in 
garden and orchard, and in winter, when all 
else is frozen hard or covered with snow, it 
turns its attention to twigs and bark of woody 
plants. The other rabbits have similar habits, 
varying with the environment. In the West 
some of the smaller kinds live largely in the 
abandoned burrows of prairie-dogs, badgers, 
and other animals. 

Rabbits feed upon nearly all growing crops, 
but the damage to small grains is usually so 
slight as to pass unnoticed. Clover and al- 



BABBITS 169 

falfa are favorites. In the Southwest they are 
quick to seize upon garden-patches, and in 
parts of Texas cantaloupes cannot be grown 
unless well fenced. 

Babbits, however, are most feared by tree- 
planters. They injure trees and shrubs in two 
ways — by cutting off the ends of branches 
and twigs, and by tearing away the bark, often 
until the tree is entirely girdled. The differ- 
ence between the work of rabbits and that of 
field-mice may easily be detected by the large 
tooth-marks of the former, and by the height 
(16 to 18 inches above the ground) of the 
wound. 

Newly planted orchards are especially liable 
to injury from rabbits, and few are now set out 
without provisions for winter protection from 
these animals. The losses of orchard and nur- 
sery stock in one neighborhood in Arkansas 
during the mild winter of 1905-6 were reported 
at $50,000. 

Laws protecting the rabbit. In New Eng- 
land and the Middle Atlantic States the rabbit 
is protected, while throughout most of the West 
and South no restrictions are placed on hunt- 



170 ANIMAL COMPETITOBS 

ing the animals. In some Western States they 
are regarded with snch disfavor that bounties 
have been paid for their destruction. 1 In States 
where they are most abundant, protection is 
rarely afforded. In sections of the country 
where a close season on rabbits is accompanied 
by a strict enforcement of laws against tres- 
pass by hunters, rabbits have often become a 
nuisance. 

On the whole, in America shooting has been 
the most effective means for keeping down the 
number of rabbits. 

Ferreting usually is impracticable, since few 
of our native rabbits take refuge in burrows. 
Moreover, the use of ferrets is forbidden by 

i The bounty on rabbit ears paid by Gray County, recalls 
the bounty paid on gophers in Wallace and Greeley counties 
[Kansas] in 1894. The former county paid the bounty on 
scalps, while Greeley County paid it on gopher tails. The 
boys along the county line traded gopher tails for scalps, and 
realized 10 cents on each gopher. A five-cent bounty was 
paid on rabbit ears also, and rabbits and gophers were so 
plentiful that many families made their living from hunting. 
So much bounty money was claimed that Wallace County 
resorted to scrip payment, and this became so plentiful that 
its value dropped to 50 cents on the dollar. The county 
finally tried to repudiate the scrip, and in suits fought to 
the highest court, it succeeded after five or six years of ex- 
pensive litigation. — Kansas telegram to New York Times, Jan. 
2, 1911. 



BABBITS 171 

law in some States which protect the rabbit. 
Coursing with greyhounds has many advocates 
and is popular in the West, where the swifter 
jack-rabbits abound. Smaller rabbits are often 
chased with fox-hounds, but the beagle is rap- 
idly taking precedence as a favorite for rabbit- 
hunting, the gun being depended upon for 
securing the game. All of these are most ex- 
hilarating sports. 

Where the country is sufficiently open for the 
purpose, one of the most successful methods 
of reducing the numbers of rabbits is the or- 
ganized hunt, known as the "drive." This 
method has been tried in many localities in the 
West and in Australia with satisfactory re- 
sults, the number of rabbits killed in a single 
drive reaching as high as 10,000 or even 
20,000. 

Complete extermination of rabbits in any 
part of the United States is not desirable, as 
has been remarked, even if it were possible. 
In most cases where protection seems neces- 
sary a rabbit-proof fence may be cheaply con- 
structed of wire netting, 1% inch mesh, from 
2. to 3 feet high, with the lower edge sunk a 



172 



ANIMAL COMPETITORS 




BABBITS 173 

little, or a furrow plowed against it to prevent 
an occasional disposition to dig under. 

Protecting trees against rabbits. The de- 
vices that have been recommended for protect- 
ing trees from rabbits are too numerous for 
separate mention. The majority consist of 
paints, washes, or smears supposed to be dis- 
tasteful to the animals. Unfortunately, those 
that are sufficiently permanent to afford pro- 
tection for an entire winter often injure or even 
kill the trees to which they are applied. Coal 
tar, pine tar, tarred paper, and various oils are 
likely to kill young trees. Blood and animal 
fats . when freshly applied will protect from 
rabbits, but are objectionable, since they are 
highly attractive to the destructive short- 
tailed field-mice. Carbolic acid and other vol- 
atile substances afford only temporary protec- 
tion, and must be renewed too often to justify 
their use. Bitter substances, like commercial 
aloes, or quassia, are useless against rabbits. 

Among the most promising washes that have 
been recommended for tree protection is the 
" lime- and- sulphur" wash, so effective in win- 
ter for the destruction of the San Jose scale. 



174 



ANIMAL COMPETITORS 



If this cheap method of controlling our worst 
insect pest of the orchard has further value in 
protecting trees from rodents, the fact can not 




AN APPLE-TKEE KILLED BY RABBITS. 

be too widely advertised. The results of per- 
sonal observation by the Survey seem to fully 
warrant its recommendation, and its cheapness 



BABBITS 175 

makes the method worthy of general trial by 
orchardists. 

The formula for the wash, reduced to the 
basis of the capacity of the ordinary kerosene 
barrel commonly used in the preparation, is : 

Unslaked lime 20 pounds 

Flowers of sulphur 15 pounds 

Water to make 45-50 gallons 

A little salt may be added to increase the 
adhesive property of the mixture. The lime, 
sulphur, and about a third of the water are 
boiled together for at least one hour, and the 
full quantity of water is then added. For San 
Jose scale the wash in the form of a spray is 
applied to the entire surface of the trees. For 
protection from mice and rabbits the trunks 
only require treatment, and the wash may be 
applied with a brush. One application in No- 
vember should last the entire winter. 

Mechanical contrivances for protecting young 
orchard trees are many. The following are 
recommendations : 

"Where protection from rabbits only is required, 
woven wire netting is recommended. This should be 
made of No. 20 galvanized wire, 1-inch mesh, such as is 



176 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

often used for poultry netting. For cottontail rabbits 
rolls 18 inches wide are recommended, but as a protec- 
tion against jack rabbits wider material is safer. The 
wire is cut into 1-foot lengths, and one of these sec- 
tions is rolled into shape about the trunk of each tree, 
the ends being brought together and fastened at sev- 
eral places by means of the wire ends. No other 
fastening is needed. The wire is not in contact with 
the trunk and may be left on the tree permanently. 
It will probably last as long as the tree requires pro- 
tection, and the cost of material need not be over 1% 
cents for each tree. For young evergreens, material 
of the same kind 1 foot wide and cut in l^-foot 
lengths will give excellent protection. 

' ' If trees are to be protected from both rabbits and 
mice, materials of closer mesh must be used. Wire 
window-screen netting is excellent for the purpose, 
and the cost, when permanence of protection is con- 
sidered, is not great. 

"Veneer and other forms of wood protectors are 
popular and have several advantages. When left 
permanently upon the trees, however, they furnish 
retreats for insect pests. For this reason they should 
be removed each spring and laid away until cold 
weather. While the labor of removing and replacing 
them is considerable, they have the advantage, when 
pressed well into the soil, of protecting from both 
mice and rabbits. They cost from 60 cents per hun- 
dred upward, and are much superior to building 
paper or newspaper wrappings. The Avriter has 
known instances where rabbits tore wrappings of 



BABBITS 177 

building paper from the apple trees and in a single 
night injured hundreds of them. ' Gunny-sack' and 
other cloth wrappings, well tied on, are effective pro- 
tectors. Cornstalks also furnish a cheap material for 
orchard protection. They are cut into lengths of 18 
to 20 inches, split, and tied with the flat side against 
the tree, so as fully to cover the trunk. ' ' 

BABBITS AS PETS. 

It hardly falls within the scope of this book 
to treat the subject of rabbits as pets; but 
some brief directions for keeping them may not 
be amiss. 

All the various forms of pet rabbits, includ- 
ing what is called the Belgian hare, are varie- 
ties of the wild European rabbit brought about 
by selective breeding in domestication. That 
under favorable circumstances they would 
thrive and multiply wild here, or in any tem- 
perate part of the world, is shown by the hordes 
of them which became a formidable pest in 
Australia. A vast amount of time and work 
and money have been expended in trying to 
get rid of them, and it has been found that 
the best plan has been to fence them out of 
the farm-lands and sheep-pastures where they 



178 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

were so undesirable. Lately, they have been 
turned to account as food, enormous numbers 
of their frozen carcases being shipped to Eu- 
rope; and also great quantities of canned rab- 
bit-flesh. 

I am not aware that in this country any 
really wild colony has been permitted to grow 
except one near Belleville, Ontario, on a rocky 
point covered with cedars, which jutted into 
the Bay of Quinte. The increase in only two 
years was astonishing. Undoubtedly an en- 
closed space of waste land, where the creatures 
might burrow easily, if devoted to a colony 
would shortly produce a large annual crop 
for market with a minimum of expense and 
trouble; but whether regular sale for them 
could be found is another question which would 
depend for its answer largely on local circum- 
stances. 

A few years ago an effort was made by the 
Department of Agriculture to arouse an in- 
terest in breeding and eating the large variety, 
known as Belgian or Dutch hare, which orig- 
inated in the Netherlands fifty or sixty years 
ago, but it did not succeed. These large rab- 



EABBITS 179 

bits may still be purchased of dealers in pet 
stock, and are the best for practical rabbit- 
culture. 

Advisable for children. No pets are more 
interesting for young children than rabbits, 
and if attended to gently and properly they 
become very tame. The ordinary scrub is good 
enough to begin with; and after the youngster 
has learned the lesson of regularity and care 
in keeping and breeding them, he will want 
and may be trusted with fancy varieties, such 
as the lop-ear or angora, which are the aristo- 
crats of their kind. 

Hutches. Although the hutches may be 
built out of rough materials, such as an old 
box, it is a mistake to suppose that any sort 
of a kennel will do. The hutch should be tight 
and warm, protecting the animals well from 
rain, cold drafts and a burning sun. 

Each hutch should consist of two parts, — 
an inner and an outer compartment. The in- 
ner one, or bedroom, should be about 2% feet 
square and high, and have a solid floor. It 
should also have a hinged door in order to per- 
mit of cleaning it, and also, a little low door. 



180 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

or hole, giving access to the outer, or dining- 
room. This outer apartment should be some- 
what larger and consist of a stout framework 
covered with chicken-wire on all sides, in- 
cluding the floor. Then, in fine weather, the 
hutch may be moved about the yard, and the 
rabbits will be able to eat the grass through 
the wire flooring; when the forage has been 
eaten in one spot, the affair may easily be 
lifted and set down in another. However, in 
wet or chilly weather, a board floor should be 
provided, either within or beneath the cage. 
Dampness and chill are always to be avoided; 
hence the roof ought to slant so as to shed 
water, and the hutch ordinarily be raised above 
wet ground by supports, such as a brick under 
each corner. 

A few gimlet holes should be bored in the 
floor of the bedroom for drainage, and also 
near its ceiling for ventilation. Other than 
this there should be no windows or cracks, as 
it is necessary that this room should be tight 
and dark, like a burrow. Its only furniture 
should be a little dry hay, changed as often 
as it becomes soiled. The feeding and water- 



BABBITS 181 

ing pans should also be kept very clean; and 
these ought to be of pottery or iron, as wooden 
ones are ruined by nibbling. The hutch should 
be cleaned regularly ; in fact, it is a good thing 
to make a practice of raking out the refuse 
every morning and giving the rabbits a bed of 
fresh straw. 

Eabbits should be fed regularly twice a day. 
Almost anything in the way of fresh vegetables 
is good for them — green grass, lettuce, cab- 
bage-leaves, roots, such as carrots, sweet apples, 
and vegetable parings from the kitchen. A 
regular daily ration, however, should be a 
small quantity of grain, half oats and half 
bran, or something similar, and in the winter 
good hay. Many recommend in winter, warm 
tea-leaves and dandelion as an occasional treat, 
good for their health, and boiled potato-parings 
given warm. One experienced man warns us 
against giving cabbage-leaves to the young; 
and also warns us that all green stuff offered 
must be quite dry or it is likely to "pad" the 
animals — give them cholera morbus. They do 
not need much water when fed on juicy food, 
but drink a good deal when living on hay and 




The three" raooits together near the top are the Silver Grey (dark), the Silver Cream (middle), and the 
Polish. The big rabbit with the eaf9 standing quite erect Is the Flemish Giant, and the one nest tt, hiding 
behind the tree, Ja a PatagorJao. Hext come the two black-and-white, rabbits, which are Dutch. The Hg rabbit 
with very long ears is a lop-eared rabbit, and the white one beside it is an Angora. The last is a Himalayan. 



RABBITS 183 

shorts; and a supply should always be kept 
within their reach. 

Directions for breeding. Rabbits will mate 
and breed every two months or so. When the 
doe desires the buck, as the male rabbit is 
called, she will announce it by stamping with 
her feet and behaving restlessly. The period 
of gestation is four weeks, and when the young 
are about to be born the mother will tear fur 
from her breast and form a soft bed for them. 
She should then be given a hutch quite to her- 
self, and left undisturbed. Your curiosity will 
be great to see the little ones, but it is better 
to restrain it until, a fortnight later, they be- 
gin to be brought out for air. They mature 
rapidly, but should be left with the mother five 
or six weeks, unless she shows by fighting them 
away that she is weaning them earlier. The 
young should not be given as fresh, rich food 
as the old rabbits, but selected and somewhat 
dry and wilted food. The first litter is some- 
times lost, by bad mothering, but rarely a sec- 
ond or subsequent one. 

Rabbits are subject to various diseases, but 
these can usually be prevented by good care. 



CHAPTER XI 
SUPPRESSION OF RODENTS AS PESTS 

Interesting and beautiful as most of the 
rodents may be regarded, and beneficial to 
mankind in much of their work, there are un- 
doubtedly many times and places when, owing 
to their excessive numbers and activity, they 
constitute a serious nuisance and must be sup- 
pressed. 

Foolish destruction of rodents' enemies. 
Prominent among the recognized causes for the 
great increase of rodent pests in recent years 
is the persistent destruction of the birds, mam- 
mals, and snakes that habitually prey upon 
them. Even farmers have joined in the war- 
fare against the so-called " vermin,' ' and too 
often have sought to get ill-advised legislation 
against mammals and birds that are beneficial. 

Among the wild mammals of North Amer- 
ica known to feed upon field-mice and their 
burrowing relatives are bears, wolves, foxes, 

184 



SUPPRESSION OF EODENTS 185 

wildcats, all the weasel-tribe, and the brown rat, 
one of his few commendable traits. 

Bears, the puma and the wildcats, foxes and 
wolves, all subsist largely on mice and ground- 
squirrels. Dogs frequently follow their mas- 
ters to the field at plowing and harvesting, 
ready to pounce upon every mouse or gopher 
uncovered; and they sometimes become very 
fond of both the prey and the sport and hunt 
independently. Some cats are good mousers, 
and in places live largely on wild game; but 
unfortunately they also learn to destroy song- 
birds and game-birds, and their nests. The 
ordinary farm cat is a terrifically destructive 
animal, and when it develops hunting pro- 
clivities it should either be reformed, or belled 
or killed. Rats kill many mice, in the fields, 
as well as about houses, forcing their way into 
their burrows. Even the ferocious little shrews 
may do so, dashing fearlessly at one twice the 
shrew's size. 

The weasel tribe the best police. The most 
efficient check upon the over-production of ro- 
dents, however, so far as mammals are con- 
cerned, is furnished by the tireless hunting of 



186 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

the skunks, badgers, minks, ferrets and similar 
animals of the weasel family,— albeit they do 
other things which are less pleasing to the 
farmer. The smaller weasels easily traverse 
the surface-runways of the larger species of 
Microtus, and even follow them into under- 
ground burrows. The larger weasels feed 
upon pocket-gophers, prairie-dogs, ground- 
squirrels, and various kinds of mice and rats. 
While occasionally they capture game- or song- 
birds, as well as poultry, their principal food 
consists of injurious rodents. 

This general statement applies to minks, 
skunks and badgers, as we shall see when we 
come to speak of these animals more particu- 
larly; and nothing could be more unwise than 
to kill these animals or allow anyone else to 
kill them upon farm or ranch, except in the oc- 
casional case where one is known to have ac- 
quired the habit of taking eggs or poultry. 
In most cases the blame is placed on the wrong 
head. Almost all skunks leave birds entirely 
alone, as also does the badger, which in the 
gopher country ought to be protected with the 
utmost solicitude. It has been repeatedly no- 



SUPPRESSION OF RODENTS 187 

ticeable that when white weasel-skins are 
high-priced, and, consequently, many of these 
animals are trapped in winter, the following 
season will be one of excessive mischief by all 
the smaller rodents. 

L. C. Cummins, of Riverside, Cal., writing to 
the Biological Survey, February 12, 1892, says : 

At one nursery we were bothered with gophers; all 
at once the gopher became scarce and from one to five 
weasels could be seen nearly every day running 
through the nursery stock and over an adjoining hill. 
They completely drove away and killed all the 
gophers. 

Useful aid by birds of prey. A similar ac- 
count might be made of the birds — not only 
birds of prey, of which the owls and the marsh- 
hawk are to be put foremost, but shrikes 
(butcher-birds), crows, jays, roadrunners, gulls 
and several of the heron tribe. Bitterns, egrets, 
cranes and the like, search steadily for mead- 
ow-mice. In California the great blue heron is 
protected on many ranches in realization of 
valuable service. A letter to The Pacific Rural 
Press, Oct. 23, 1897, from W. M. Bistoe, re- 
lated that a neighbor found barn-owls had 



188 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

made their home in his pigeon-house. Think- 
ing they were after the pigeons he shot the 
male and the next day trapped the female. On 
investigation he found four young owls in the 
nest, together with the remains of ten pocket- 
gophers. He immediately released the cap- 
tured mother, with his apologies. This owl is 
so regular in its daily capture of these pests 
that it might well be named the gopher-owl. 

Serpents devour mice and gophers. Snakes 
must be included among the natural enemies 
of field-mice. The larger bull-snakes (Pituo- 
pliis), blacksnakes (Callopeltis), and rattle- 
snakes (Crotalus) feed largely upon rabbits, 
prairie-dogs, pocket-gophers, and ground-squir- 
rels, as well as different species of rats and 
mice. Blacksnakes and bull-snakes probably 
kill more field-mice than the others; but black- 
snakes destroy also a considerable number of 
nestling birds and birds' eggs, so that part of 
their beneficial work is offset by this injurious 
habit. A nurseryman in Pennsylvania reports 
that he secured immunity from mice in his nur- 
sery by turning loose in it 50 blacksnakes. 

The Pacific bull-snake (Pituophis catenifer), 



SUPPEESSION OF KODENTS 189 

because of its habit of killing pocket-gophers, 
is quite generally called the gopher-snake. A 
writer in The Pacific Rural Press for May 12, 
1888, says of the reptile : 

It is an act of insane folly to destroy them, for 
they are the most active and efficient allies of the 
nurseryman, farmer, and fruit raiser in the destruc- 
tion of those most pernicious pests, the gopher and 
the squirrel. They destroy more gophers than all 
the appliances that man can bring to bear in the shape 
of traps, poisons, and gases. 

On the whole, snakes, except the venomous 
species, are deserving of the farmers' protec- 
tion. Like the toad, the smaller kinds feed 
almost wholly upon insects; but an inherent 
prejudice induces thoughtless people at every 
opportunity to destroy these friends of agri- 
culture. 

Poisoning and fumigation. Undoubtedly the 
most effective methods of getting rid of ro- 
dent pests of all kinds is by poisoning them, 
and by trapping them. Directions for doing 
this applicable to the various kinds will be 
found in the last chapter, and need not be 
dwelt upon here. 



190 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

Fumigation is a method of despatch which 
has proven effective with prairie-dogs and 
ground-squirrels, but is of little use in the case 
of gophers or moles, because the latter dig so 
fast and so quickly close their tunnels against 
the fumes as to escape its effects. Machines 
have been invented for blowing the fumes of 
burning sulphur down the burrows. Better 
results, however, are gained with carbon disul- 
phide. This is an antiseptic liquid which may 
be bought in quart-bottles, and is very useful 
in general for killing vermin, protecting stuffed 
birds, etc., in museum cases or in boxes, and 
similar purposes ; but must be kept away from 
fire as it is easily inflammable and explosive. 
It evaporates rapidly, making pungent fumes 
in a closed place. The method to be used is 
to carry it, corked, to the mouth of a burrow, 
pour a small quantity upon a little wad of rags 
or corn-husk, or a ball of horse-dung, and push 
it quickly as far as you can down a burrow 
and immediately close the entrance with packed 
earth. Unless the soil is very dry and the bur- 
row extensive the animals at home will be 
smothered. In the case of prairie-dogs, the 



SUPPRESSION OF RODENTS 191 

field should first be gone over with poison, and 
the bulk of the animals thus destroyed. 

Flooding the burrows. Where available, 
water is one of the best means of combatting 
pocket-gophers. Flooding the land in winter 
is especially effective, as it wets the animals 
and drives them to the surface, where they soon 
succumb to the cold. In warm weather the 
method can be made effective if men and dogs 
are on hand to kill the animals as they seek 
refuge on the embankments. S. E. Piper, of 
the Biological Survey, reports that about the 
middle of April, 1909, at Modesto, Ca'L, he saw 
some boys killing pocket-gophers that had been 
driven from an alfalfa patch by flooding. A 
hundred gophers, more than half of them young 
of the year, were killed from a three-acre tract. 

Difficulties of extermination. Much hope has 
been entertained that a bacterial disease fatal 
to rodents, and particularly to rats, might be 
found, but thus far has been disappointed. 
It was thought that a bacillus (B. typhimur- 
ium) given to the field-mice which over-ran 
Thessaly in 1892-3 had put an end to the 
plague, but it is now thought it did little to 



192 ANIMAL COMPETITOBS 

hasten the end. Experiments with similar or- 
ganisms have been reported successful since in 
Eussia and in France; but none of the like at- 
tempts made during the mouse-plague in Ne- 
vada in 1908 had an appreciable effect. 
As Mr. Lantz says: 

"The destruction of noxious mammals is a more 
complicated problem than that of insect destruction. 
The farmer who fights these higher forms deals 
with instincts and intelligence well adapted to cope 
with his own in the struggle for existence. It is 
not enough that he place poisoned food or traps 
in the way of the creatures he desires to destroy; 
he must make the baits attractive and allay the 
natural suspicion of the animals by ridding traps 
of all suggestion of their real nature. He must 
know the traits of the animals and take advantage 
of any habit that will enable him to circumvent and 
destroy them." 

Furthermore : 

"In warfare against any rodent pest little per- 
manent good can be accomplished except by coop- 
erative effort. Although it always pays the indi- 
vidual farmer or fruit grower to exterminate pocket- 
gophers from his own lands, yet if he can not se- 
cure cooperation of the whole community he must 
constantly guard against a return of the pests and be 
ever ready to renew offensive operations against them. 



SUPPRESSION OF RODENTS 193 

With united effort the animals can be completely 
exterminated over entire townships, or even counties, 
and when this is accomplished immunity from the 
pest will continue indefinitely." 



CHAPTER XII 
MOLES, SHREWS AND BATS 

Under this caption might be written a long 
list of American insectivores, — animals which 
are to be thought of not merely as feeding npon 
insects, but as belonging to the Order In- 
sectivora. This order is a group of small, 
slender, plantigrade animals, having fine sharp 
teeth and digestive organs especially suited to 
a diet of worms and insects. They are found 
all over the world, except in South America and 
Australasia; and are of particular interest to 
the zoologist because much evidence allies them 
with the earliest known type of .mammal, so 
that the insectivores seem to represent, with 
little alteration, the most ancient mammalian 
stock. They are most nearly related to the 
lemurs and the bats. 

The moles under the lawn. Our insecti- 
vores are all small and inconspicuous, and pop- 
ular interest is attached only to the moles 

194 



MOLES, SHREWS AND BATS 195 

which disfigure our lawns and flower-beds. It 
is commonly believed that the mole bites off 
roots and eats such things as lily-bulbs and 
sweet potatoes ; but all the harm it does is now 
and then to upset a plant or disarrange a bit 
of grass-plot. It is in search of worms, grubs 
and burrowing insects, that the mole pushes 
his way beneath our feet ; and he devours a vast 
number of these, which do prey upon the roots 
and stems of grasses and other plants. The 
real mischief occasionally observed is due to 
the field-mice which sometimes follow his track. 
The mole has become extraordinarily well 
fitted for his underground work. His body is 
a loosely filled sack which will stand a lot of 
bending and squeezing, and his head is like a 
round wedge with a flexible point, — really an 
exquisitely sensitive nose and a mouth filled 
with capable teeth. Within that sack are the 
most massive shoulders and forearms for their 
size in the animal kingdom, the latter terminat- 
ing in broad, strongly webbed hands, armed 
with long, sharp claws, like a shovel ending in 
five pick-blades. These great hands are twisted 
so that their palms are outward, thumbs down, 



196 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

and the thumb is braced by an extra wrist- 
bone, and armed with a horny outgrowth of 
skin with a knife-like edge. The accompany- 
ing muscles are enormous. As the creature 
goes through the soil he stretches these instru- 
ments ahead of his nose, drives the claws into 
the soil, then sweeps them outward, and so 
progresses by a swimming motion, kicking the 
loose soil behind him, and now and then throw- 
ing it out upon the surface in a "mole-kill." 

The strength required for this is prodigious, 
as may be tested when a mole is placed among 
movable objects. Godman describes one which, 
after a fall from a mantel-piece, hurried to the 
wall and then began to travel around the room. 

"Whenever," he says, "its course was impeded by 
the feet of the chairs, which were of large size, it 
would not go around them, but wedging itself be- 
tween them and the Avail, pushed them with apparent 
ease far enough to obtain a free passage, and it thus 
continued to move several in succession. What was 
more astonishing, it passed in a similar manner be- 
hind the legs of a small mahogany breakfast table, 
and pushed it aside in the same way it had done the 
chairs, finally hiding itself behind a pile of quarto 
volumes, more than two feet high, which it also moved 
out from the wall." 



MOLES, SHREWS AND BATS 197 

Dr. Merriam worked out the dynamics of this 
last feat, and found it equivalent to a man's 
exerting a pressure of 12,000 pounds ! 

Methods of the garden mole. In loose old 
cultivated ground, where earthworms and grubs 
are numerous, moles travel in every direc- 
tion just beneath the surface, and often never 
return on their tracks ; but many of their sub- 
terranean paths are regular galleries or run- 
ways, intersecting with others and centering in 
a home nest which seems to be occupied year 
after year, and often by several pairs or fam- 
ilies. This nest and the runways are kept in 
excellent repair. "When the shrew-mole en- 
counters a rock or an old log, or stump, in the 
course of his subterranean wanderings," re- 
marks Merriam, "instead of avoiding it he 
takes great pains to burrow beneath, making 
extensive excavations in contact with its under 
surface. The reason is obvious, for he knows 
. . . that in such places are to be found 
many slugs, ants with their eggs, and other 
tender insects." 

As winter comes on the mole sinks below the 
frost-line, as do the earthworms, and so pur- 



198 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

sues its prey at a safe depth. It does not hi- 
bernate but is much less active than in summer, 
and doubtless is made so drowsy by the chill 
and the scarcity of air beneath the frozen top- 
soil that it sleeps most of the time. In sum- 
mer these little creatures have a curious habit 
of coming to the surface precisely at noon, 
and peering out, or even taking air and sun- 
shine in a little walk. They are not blind, but 
their eyes are hardly larger than mustard 
seeds, so that vision must be restricted to little 
more than the perception of light. 

A closely related but smaller northeastern 
species is Brewer's or the hairy-tailed mole; 
and the Pacific coast has Townsend's and other 
species. 

The mole with the rosette. The star-nosed 
mole is a very interesting one, common in the 
Great Lakes region and on the Atlantic slope. 
It is larger than the garden mole, has a longer 
tail, a blackish-brown coat impervious to water, 
and particularly a rosette of pinkish fleshy 
feelers around the end of its pig-like proboscis. 
It lives by choice in swamps and wet meadows, 
where its burrows often open in some stream- 



MOLES, SHREWS AND BATS 199 

bank below the water. It can swim and dive 
excellently, and no doubt adds to its fare of 
worms and grubs many small creatures and 
their eggs caught in the water and on the 
stream-bed. It seems to be more active in win- 
ter than the others, frequently moving about 
under the snow or on its surface. 

Moles are hardy, easily tamed and supported 
on shreds of meat, and exhibit intelligence as 
well as an ugly temper. When two or more 
are confined together the murder and eating of 
the weaker is likely to follow, until one cannibal 
is left. 

Shrews and their ways. The shrews are 
relatives of the moles, which do not tunnel, but 
are so small, secretive and nocturnal, that few 
persons suspect their presence, although they 
are numerous and of many sorts all over the 
country, even very far to the north. Our 
eastern long-tailed shrew is the smallest known 
mammal and could curl up in a walnut husk, 
yet it exists at the Arctic Circle and runs about 
in the snow of a Canadian winter. They are 
mouse-like animals, extremely swift and agile 
in their movements, but instantly separable 



200 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

by their long, flexible, trunk-like noses, be- 
whiskered noses, minute eyes and ears, and 
red-pointed teeth, which, of course, are not in 
the least like those of a mouse. As I have 
written elsewhere: 

"All the shrews are ceaselessly active, wandering 
about underneath leaves, old grass, and logs, and bor- 
ing their way into loose loam or the punky wood of 
decayed stumps, in search of earthworms, grubs, 
beetles, slugs, and similar prey, including young mice 
and the fledglings of ground-nesting birds, and vary- 
ing this fare by bites from soft-shelled beechnuts, 
tuberous roots, etc. They are astonishingly quick of 
hearing; are bold, pugnacious, and fierce, often kill- 
ing and eating other shrews; difficult to keep alive 
in captivity, utterly untamable, and easily frightened 
to death. All kinds exhale from glands near their 
armpits a musky odor which no doubt is protective, 
since most hawks, cats, foxes, etc., do not eat them 
unless excessively hungry; but owls and weasels ap- 
pear to be well pleased with such flavors, and catch 
and devour them in large numbers." 

We have a large number of shrews, some of 
which are aquatic, and the variety of color and 
size is considerable. Cuba and Hayti each 
also possesses a large sort of insectivore, called 
almiqui and looking like a shrew as big as a rat. 



MOLES, SHREWS AND BATS 201 

Little is known of the habits of either, and they 
are chiefly notable because closely related to 
certain insectivores of Madagascar, the tenrecs, 
indicating- descent from a common and ex- 
tremely primitive source, as the only explana- 
tion of their now living in two so widely sepa- 
rated regions. 

American bats. These insect-eating mam- 
mals of the air constitute a distinct group 
(Order Chiroptera), characterized by the pos- 
session of leathery wings, and other features 
which separate them from the terrestrial in- 
sectivores. North America has about twenty 
species, nearly all of the world-wide family 
VespertilionidcE, in which the nostrils are 
without those membranous appendages called 
a nose-leaf, and the ears are of moderate 
size and shape. On our southwestern border, 
however, occurs a true nose-leafed, fruit-eat- 
ing bat or two, representing families numerous 
in Mexico, Central America and the West In- 
dies, to one of which belongs the dreaded 
vampire, — the blood-sucker of equatorial South 
America. Most of the North American bats 
are confined to the warm South, but half a 



202 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

dozen kinds are spread all over the Northern 
States and southern Canada, some regularly 
migrating southward in winter and returning 
in spring like birds. 

The commonest ones are the little brown bat, 
which is glossy brown above and paler below; 
the very similar, but more southern pipistrelle ; 
the silvery bat, whose fur is dark brown with 
white tips ; and the rusty or foxy-gray red bat. 
All these are small (3.4 to 4.4 in. long). A 
larger dark brown kind, the Carolina bat (4.6 
in.) is common in all the Southern States; 
while the North has the big hoary bat (5.4 in. 
long, grizzled above, white below), a long- 
winged, swift-flying denizen of forests, rarely 
seen and a winter migrant. Other species are 
locally well known in California and along the 
Mexican border, especially the little "free- 
tailed" Texan bat (Nyctinomus), which repre- 
sents a tropical group in which the tail is free 
from the membrane stretched between the hind 
legs. 

All these bats are similar in habits, sleeping 
in some dark and sheltered place during the 
day, and hibernating more or less completely 



MOLES, SHREWS AND BATS 203 

in winter. At twilight they come squeaking out 
to hunt in swift zigzag flight for small flying 
insects, thus destroying hordes of gnats and 
mosquitoes ; and in the early morning they take 
another meal before disappearing. In this 
business their sharp eyesight is aided by an 
inconceivably delicate sense of touch in their 
wings and elsewhere. Where caves or rocky 
crevices abound they often cluster on their 
walls in great numbers, or elsewhere throng 
in hollow trees; but they are quick to resort 
to buildings, finding their way into barns, gar- 
rets, broken eaves, belfries and like places, and 
sometimes becoming a nuisance by their noise 
and dirt and abominable smell, but otherwise 
they are harmless. The superstitious fear of 
them felt by some persons is only a part, of 
the nonsense that has come down to us from the 
Dark Ages, when all nocturnal animals were 
supposed to be somehow connected with the so- 
called "powers of darkness." 

The bats breed annually, usually producing 
twins in early summer, which are born naked 
and cling to the mother's body, where they may 
be suckled wrapped in her wings as she hangs 



204 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

head downward in her dark retreat or carried 
safely as she flies abroad. Extreme care and 
affection are shown by the little mothers, and 
their babies are long dependent npon them. 
No animals seem to prey on our bats, but they 
are quarrelsome and pugnacious among them- 
selves, and captives are not easily tamed. 

Relations to humanity. Bats are not of 
much economic interest in this country — not 
as much as in the eastern tropics, where it is 
quite impossible, in some places, to raise soft 
tree-fruits unless the trees are carefully and 
strongly screened against the big fruit-eating 
fox-bats. Our species, on the other hand are 
wholly beneficial in their feeding habits, from 
our point of view, because their fare consists 
wholly of flying insects, most of which are in 
some way injurious or annoying to us. It is 
delightful to watch their dancing flight in the 
twilight— the more so when we try to count the 
number of mosquitoes they catch; and it is per- 
fectly foolish for any one to be afraid of them 
as some women and girls pretend they are. It 
is also charged that they carry bedbugs and 
introduce them into houses. In common with 



MOLES, SHREWS AND BATS 205 

most animals the bat acts as host to a few small 
insect parasites, one of which is a relative of 
the bedbug and somewhat resembles it. It is 
possible that at rare intervals one may be 
found carrying a true bedbug, which is not one 
of its natural parasites, and might drop it in 
some garret ; but the danger from this is slight. 
Bats are naturally cave-dwellers, and certain 
caves favorably situated in wild regions have 
been tenanted by them in enormous numbers 
and for an untold length of time. In such 
caverns, discovered in various parts of world, 
thick deposits of guano have been found, and 
have to some extent been utilized, being ex- 
ceedingly strong in nitrogenous elements and 
unimpaired, in their protected situation by the 
washing away of the soluble elements in which 
their virtue largely lies. 



CHAPTER XIII 
FOXES AND FOX-FARMING 

We have in North America several different 
sorts of foxes. The red fox is the most wide- 
spread and important of these. A large form 
of it dwells in southern Alaska, and another 
variety, or species, is peculiar to Newfound- 
land. Then, in the West, are two small foxes, 
the kit or swift fox of the central plains, and 
the big-eared swift of southern California and 
Arizona. 

The kit-foxes of the west. These last are 
handsome grizzled-gray and yellowish little 
animals, with keen, interesting faces, tall, alert 
ears, and the ability to run like a streak. Each 
has a full measure of the cunning of its harried 
race, and makes a good living during all the 
warmer half of the year at the expense of mice, 
spermophiles and gophers, but in winter, when 
most of these are safe under ground, it must 
have a harder time, and resort to various foxy 

206 



FOXES AND FOX-FABMING 207 




YARDS, WITH FOX-KENNELS. 




mm*®® 



A CORNER, "WITH STONES TO PREVENT THE FOXES DIGGING OUT. 



208 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

tricks to catch snow-birds and grouse, espe- 
cially in the far North. 

It is quite harmless to man, and would prob- 
ably increase rather than diminish as ranching 
and civilization gradually overspread its once 
lonely haunts, did it not so often fall a victim 
to the poisoned baits laid out for coyotes. 
This is unfortunate, especially in prairie-dog 
regions, for it is an indefatigable and skillful 
hunter of these troublesome burrowers. 

The gray fox. Throughout the Southern 
States occurs a rather small fox differing in 
color, — for it is prevailingly gray — and also in 
habits, from the northern red foxes. This 
gray fox seems to have less sharpness, adapta- 
bility and fearlessness than the red; and it is 
also less fecund, its young rarely exceeding 
four or five annually, whereas the litter of the 
red often numbers seven or eight. Otherwise 
the gray fox seems to have several advantages, 
as I have pointed out in my Life of Mammals: 

" It is decidedly smaller and less conspicuous, being 
silver-gray, darker on the back, and tinged with 
rufous on the ears, sides of the neck, breast, and un- 
der parts, while the tips of the ears, top of the nose, 



FOXES AND FOX-FARMING 209 

chin, and feet are black. It is a woodlander, and 
seems incapable of adapting itself to the cleared dis- 
tricts in which the red fox so easily makes itself at 
home; climbs trees almost like a cat, and takes to 
them naturally for safety or to get grapes and per- 
simmons to eat. There, too, it makes its home in a 
hollow stump or log, not digging a burrow, for the 
weather of its southerly habitat, and the later date 
of its breeding, do not require for its young the 
warmth of an underground nursery ; and all the year 
round it can supply itself with food by its own cun- 
ning tricks, while the red fox must wander over many 
miles of country. The ground-breeding birds and 
waterfowl and their eggs form its principal fare, 
perhaps in summer, when hens or turkeys straying 
in the woods are likely to be seized; but rarely is 
the poultry disturbed on the home roost, nor can 
such worse depredations as killing young pigs, lambs, 
etc., be laid at its door. Audubon, whose account of 
this to him very familiar animal is circumstantial, 
speaks of it as a 'pilfering thief and of the red fox 
as a 'daring and cunning plunderer.' Gray foxes 
will run before hounds only a short distance, doubling 
constantly and for a short time, when they either 
' hole ' in a tree or climb one ; while a red fox may run 
straight eight or ten miles away and then back in a 
parallel course. 

"Extremely interesting is the arctic fox, of the 
polar regions right round the world. It is a shy, 
swift little beast with blunt nose, short rounded ears, 
a very long bushy tail, and the soles of its feet well 



210 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

shod with moccasins of hair, giving them a firm hold 
on the slippery rocks, snow, and ice, over which it 
leaves its tiny tracks from Labrador to the Lincoln 
Sea. Every arctic explorer from Steller down has 
had much to say of this animal, the accounts given 
by Richardson, Feilden, and Nelson being especially 
full and good. The most remarkable feature of its 
history relates to its varying phases of coloration. 
During the short arctic summer its dress is brown 
with the under parts lighter, often drab. In autumn 
this coat is replaced by one of pure white, beneath 
which is a fine wool; and this warm, white dress, 
invisible against the snow, is the normal winter hue 
of the great majority of arctic foxes. A small pro- 
portion, however, are never either white or dark 
brown, but are slate-gray all the year round. This 
double phase may occur anywhere, one or two, per- 
haps, arising from a litter that becomes white; but 
in some rather southerly places the 'blues' prevail, 
forming a local race. Such is the case in Greenland, 
Iceland, and in the Aleutian Islands, where blue 
foxes are now carefully preserved and cared for in a 
semidomestic condition, for the sake of their highly 
valuable fur, a certain number being killed an- 
nually." 

The American red fox. Eeturning now to 
the common or red fox, it appears that this is 
one of the most widely distributed of animals, 
for it is hard to distinguish more than such 



FOXES AND FOX-FARMING 211 

local varieties as might easily arise in different 
climates and from local peculiarities of food 
throughout the whole northern world. It is 
convenient to name them as species, but it is 
practically the same "Reynard the Fox" right 
around the globe. 

"Our American form," to quote again from my 
Life of .. .Mammals heretofore mentioned, "seems 
especially variable since its typical yellowish red, 
darkest on the back and shoulders, may be very bright 
or very pale ; or may have the markings on the spine 
and withers very dark and distinct, making it a 
'cross fox,' or be totally black with a white-tipped 
tail ; or black, with the tips of most of the hairs white, 
giving the fur a frosted or 'silver' appearance. . . . 

"Foxes everywhere are naturally burrowers and 
nocturnal hunters of ground-nesting birds from ducks 
and geese to sparrows, and of their eggs; rodents of 
every sort, frogs, lizards, insects, and in summer and 
autumn frnit and berries. Some of the prey is got 
by running it down, for the fox is fleet; some by 
digging it out of its underground holes; some by 
stalking it with crafty caution; some by lying appar- 
ently dead until the victim approaches near enough 
to be seized by a catlike pounce. These are the es- 
sential tactics of its food getting in all lands, the fare 
and the method varying with the country; and end- 
less stratagems match the native precautions of the 
small quarry. All the larger cats and wolves are its 



212 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

enemies in the wilderness, and the skill in avoiding 
them inherited from innumerable ancestors serves it 
well when in civilized lands the fox finds troops of 
dogs set upon its track. 

"Standard works are supplemented by admirable 
essays on the American fox by Thoreau, Burroughs, 
Lottridge, Robinson, Seton, and others who know him 
well ; none is more complete and intimate than the 
history given by Mr. Cram, who asserts that in New 
England, at least, the foxes in cultivated districts 
are far more highly developed in intellect than are 
those of the outlying parts, or than were the foxes 
of a century ago. They are the most bold, skillful, 
and inveterate of poultry thieves, and will sometimes 
take as many as 'thirty pullets in a single night'; 
and often half or more of the booty of such a raid 
will be found in a pile in some hiding-place, which 
goes to show that the foxes of all cold regions prob- 
ably store surplus food. In return for levying upon 
his chickens (or, in Europe, upon the pheasants and 
other treasures of the gamekeeper) the animal aids 
the farmer by destroying numberless rats, mice, 
gophers, and similar pests." 

Value of fox fur. Of all the products de- 
rived from wild animals furs are the most 
useful and valuable. Indispensable to primi- 
tive man, they are scarcely less important to 
the most civilized, for in warmth, beauty and 
durability, no manufactured fabrics excel them. 



FOXES AND FOX-FABMING 213 

But expanding civilization is steadily diminish- 
ing the supply of furs, and the animals which 
bear them are proportionately decreasing, es- 
pecially those whose coats are of high quality. 
The growing demand may be met partly by 
stricter enforcement of the game laws, but it 
is evident that it is becoming necessary to 
propagate fur-bearers in confinement, and by 
this means an important and new industry will 
presently be developed. This has already been 
the subject of no little thought and experiment, 
but mainly in reference to the smaller and less 
valuable animals, such as skunks and minks, as 
we shall see. Kesults of considerable impor- 
tance have been obtained recently with Alaskan 
blue foxes, and a good deal has been done 
quietly in experimental cultivation of the Cana- 
dian silver fox. 

This last industry has recently been made 
the subject of official investigation by Mr. W. 
H. Osgood, of the United States Department of 
Agriculture, from whose report the present 
article is mainly compiled. More persons have 
engaged in it than the public generally is aware 
of, for they have been disposed to keep their 



214 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

experiments quiet and their results a secret; 
but a recent investigation pursued by W. H. 
Osgood of the Biological Survey has gathered 
many facts as to method, of which I shall avail 
myself liberally. 

Variability of the red fox. The common 
fox, as has been said, varies from red to black, 
and these extremes, with the gradations be- 
tween them, form four more or less distinct 
phases, respectively known as red, cross (or 
patch), silver, and black. 

In the red phase the animal is entirely rich 
fulvous, except restricted black markings on 
the feet and ears, a white area at the end of the 
tail, and certain white-tipped hairs on the back 
and rump. From this phase to the next the 
black increases in extent until, in the typical 
"cross" fox, the black predominates on the 
feet, legs and underparts, while fulvous over- 
lying black covers most of the head, shoulders 
and back. A gradual increase of the black and 
elimination of the fulvous, or its replacement 
by white, brings us to the next phase, the "sil- 
ver, ' ' or ' ' silver-gray, ' ' in which no fulvous ap- 
pears, the entire pelage being dark at the base 



FOXES AND FOX-FARMING 215 

and heavily or lightly overlain with grayish- 
white. Silver foxes vary from those in which 
the color is entirely grizzled to those in which 
it is entirely black, except a few white-tipped 
hairs on the back and rump. Finally, in the 
black phase, the white is absent from all parts 
except the tip of the tail. 

The red phase is mnch more abundant than 
the others, but the three interbreed freely, and 
wherever one occurs occasional examples of the 
others also may be expected. In general, the 
cross fox is fairly common, the silver-gray is 
comparatively scarce, and the pure black is 
excessively rare. The prices usually paid for 
skins of the different phases vary according to 
the relative scarcity of the animals. Thus red 
skins command only a moderate price ($1.50 to 
$3.50), cross foxes are somewhat higher ($4 to 
$8), silver foxes are several times higher ($50 
to $250), and pure black skins are exceedingly 
valuable, being higher priced than any other 
fur except sea-otter— $1,000 to $2,000. 

Area suited for fox-farming. The natural 
habitat of this fox includes the greater part of 
North America, from the central United States 



216 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

northward to and including the border of the 
treeless tundra. The red phase inhabits nearly 
all this region, but the silver phase, although 
known in most parts of it, is very irregularly 
distributed. In general it is much more com- 
mon in northern localities than in southern, 
and seems especially numerous in Newfound- 
land and on the interior heights of Labrador. 
Altogether, it appears likely that the area 
suitable for rearing silver foxes successfully is 
confined to Canada, and a small strip of coun- 
try south of it, including the higher parts of 
the Alleghenies. Prince Edward Island has 
already about 100 breeders, and can supply good 
breeding-stock. 

Arrangement of breeding-quarters. It is a 
mistake to suppose that a great space is re- 
quired for rearing silver foxes, or a rough area 
approximating natural conditions of fox-life. 
Indeed, this is disadvantageous, for it tends to 
keep the animals so wild as to be unmanage- 
able. The endeavor should always be to tame 
the captives as much as possible, and to do this 
a small and uniform area is necessary. Foxes 
thrive in enclosures not more than 40 feet 



FOXES AND FOX-FAKMING 217 

square. These may be but a few rods from a 
farm-house, or, if visitors are excluded, in a 
quiet place on the outskirts of a village. A 
half-acre will accommodate about six pairs of 
foxes, which is quite as many as a beginner 
should attempt to handle. The selection of 
ground may depend upon circumstances, but ef- 
fort should be made to include a few trees or 
small shrubs. These afford shade and a feel- 
ing of seclusion and security to the animals. 

Inclosures for foxes are made with woven- 
wire fencing, but the mesh should be not greater 
than 2-inch, for young foxes are able to wriggle 
through an opening three inches square. The 
fencing should be about 10 feet high and sunk 
into the ground two feet. The foxes try to 
escape, when first placed in the pen, by digging 
at the edge of the wire, and abandon the effort 
when they find themselves stopped near the 
surface. The top of the fence, however, must 
have an inward overhang of two feet to prevent 
the animals climbing out. 

Form of enclosures. In the arrangement of 
sub-divisions the general plan should conform 
to that shown in the accompanying diagram. 



218 



ANIMAL COMPETITOES 



Here a wide outer court is provided, separating 

the smaller enclosures in which the foxes are 
actually kept from the unfenced area possibly 



1 b 40 Ft 



-'l:l 



to 



S/2 Ft- 



If 

1? 



■4-OFf- 



POX P/iOTECT/ON FROM fttTPl/DEftS 



PLAN OF FOX-BREEDING ESTABLISHMENT. 



open to the public. The court shown in the 
diagram is only 40 feet wide, but it might well 
be much wider, since its object is not so much 



FOXES AND FOX-FABMING 219 

to give additional security as to prevent curi- 
ous visitors or stray dogs, etc., from annoying 
the foxes. Seclusion, indeed, is of prime im- 
portance, hence no one ought to be permitted 
inside it except the regular keeper, to whom the 
prisoners are accustomed. Any means which 
will effect the desired seclusion, as hedges or a 
high-board fence, may be used instead of this 
outer wire enclosure. 

The inner enclosures are of two kinds, most 
of them small and designed for single animals 
or pairs, but one or more are larger and in- 
tended to accommodate a number of foxes at 
one time. Every compartment should be pro- 
vided with doors so arranged that animals may 
be transferred from one to another readily. 
The beginner with only one pair of foxes may 
start with two of the small compartments, and 
add others as needed, keeping in mind a con- 
venient general plan. The small compart- 
ments should be at least 30 feet square. Those 
shown in the diagram are 30 by 40 feet, and the 
larger runs 75 by 40 feet. Passageways giving 
free access to all the compartments should be 
4 to 6 feet wide. 



220 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

Each, compartment should contain a small 
house or shelter-box, for, although the foxes 
often dig natural dens in the ground, they usu- 
ally accustom themselves readily to artificial 
shelters. A common form of these is much like 
a dog-kennel and about the same size. They 
are ordinarily made four or five feet square 
and two or three feet high, with an entrance 
about six inches square. No nesting material 
is needed inside the boxes, as the old foxes 
either do without or provide themselves from 
refuse in their enclosure. 

Foxes easy to keep. The mere keeping of 
foxes in confinement is a simple matter. They 
do not, as a rule, however, become very tame, 
even after several generations. They seem 
contented and happy in their cages, and rarely 
make determined efforts to escape. Several 
cases are recorded where captive silver foxes, 
having climbed out of their enclosures in win- 
ter, when high drifts of snow gave them a 
chance to reach the top of the fence, have re- 
turned voluntarily to their home. 

Although in general suspicious of mankind 
and inclined all their lives to snap at or bite 



FOXES AND FOX-FARMING 221 

even their best known and kindest attendants, 
these foxes do not quarrel much among them- 
selves, especially where properly fed. 

So far as known, fatal disease has been so 
rare as to be negligible in any general con- 
sideration of fox-raising. Here and there an 
animal has died of some unknown internal 
complaint, but no particular disease has mani- 
fested itself. Nothing in the nature of an epi- 
demic has thus far appeared, and even minor 
diseases have been exceedingly few. Fleas 
occasionally have proved troublesome, and, no 
doubt, foxes may contract mange and other 
diseases to which dogs are subject, but if kept 
in cleanly quarters and fed properly they are 
reasonably safe. 

Cold weather has no terrors for them, and 
they delight in snow, but should not be per- 
mitted to lie upon it when it is alternately 
freezing and thawing, as their fur, by freezing 
to the crust and then being torn loose, will be 
injured. 

Food and feeding rules. Wild foxes eat a 
great variety of food, including mice, rabbits, 
birds, and insects, such as grasshoppers, crick- 



222 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

ets and beetles. At certain seasons berries 
are eaten in large quantities. Meat, therefore, 
is only a part of their natural diet, and if fed 
exclusively is likely to have ultimately a bad 
effect. It is much better to supply the foxes 
with a mixed diet, including, besides meat, such 
food as bread, milk, table-scraps or dog-bis- 
cuits, all of which are relished. There is less 
danger in any particular food than in too large 
quantities at irregular intervals. Over-feed- 
ing produces fat, sluggish animals, that do not 
breed well, and it has been responsible for some 
expensive failures. The normal weight of a 
fox is from six to nine pounds, so animals 
weighing over ten pounds are too fat. A reg- 
ular daily ration is the proper method, both for 
the sake of their stomachs and because it tends 
to a more constant and friendly relation be- 
tween the keeper and his charge. It is a good 
plan, nevertheless, to give them bones with lit- 
tle meat on them, now and then, upon which 
they may gnaw indefinitely. Occasionally they 
may be regaled with tidbits consisting of small 
wild mammals, as rabbits, woodchucks, rats, 
mice and other animals likely to be captured 



FOXES AND FOX-FARMING 223 

about the farm. Fresh drinking-water, of 
course, should be supplied regularly. If a 
spring or other natural supply can be included 
within the yards much labor is saved. 

A daily allowance for each fox, according to 
the experts consulted by Osgood, is one-fourth 
of a pound of meat and a small handful of 
miscellaneous scraps. One of the most success- 
ful breeders feeds a quarter of a pound of meat 
and a quart of skim milk daily. Another varies 
the meat-diet with a sort of hoecake made of 
corn meal and sour milk. The meat used is 
beef or mutton in the form of butchers ' scraps, 
unsalable parts, and the like or, most com- 
monly, horse-meat procured especially for the 
purpose. 

In the producing season, November to 
March, feed must be restricted to just the right 
quantity and carefully chosen. In the summer 
less caution is required. Two eggs should be 
given daily to a nursing mother for a month 
after the pups are born; and fresh milk three 
times a day. When located on the seacoast 
near fishing settlements fox-raisers supply fish, 
lobsters, and other sea-foods to their foxes at 



224 



ANIMAL COMPETITORS 



little or no cost, and find them satisfactory. 
Take care that the stronger, quicker foxes do 
not rob and starve their fellows. 

Reproduction, mid treatment of young. 
Foxes breed only once a year, beginning when 
a little less than a year old, but the first litter 
will be small. The mating or rutting season 
includes the months of February and March, 




"* /,, *.'l-^^ 



ONE FORM OF BREEDING KENNEL. 

A barrel, with a similar elbowed entrance might easily take 
the place of this box. 

and the young are born in April and May. 
The number of young in a litter varies from 
two to eight, the average number born to 
adult parents being five. 

In the wild state foxes are monogamous. 
The male has only one consort, at least only 
one in a season. In confinement, however, one 



FOXES AND FOX-F ARMING 225 

male sometimes has been mated successfully 
with two or even three females. In certain 
cases this may be desirable, and at an advanced 
stage of the business may offer no difficulties, 
but at first it is advisable to handle the animals 
in pairs. It is possible, also, as proved in a 
number of instances, to allow male and female 
to remain together throughout the year with- 
out bad results, but it is much better to keep 
them separate, except during the mating sea- 
son. They may be paired in December or Jan- 
uary and separated in March or April. The 
females should be kept in the small enclosures 
continuously and the young removed when 
weaned. 

The separation of the sexes is not, as many 
suppose, to prevent the male from viciously 
killing the young; for, unless suffering from 
hunger, he usually is a model parent. But the 
presence of the male often results in injury to 
the female during pregnancy, resulting in abor- 
tion; or it excites her unduly after the young 
are born, leading to rougher treatment than 
they are able to stand. 

Some foxes are much better breeders than 



226 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

others ; some can never be induced to mate, and 
others mate, but do not produce young. They 
are constantly in a state of fear, and this fear 
is probably the chief cause of the failure to 
breed regularly. It may cause the female to 
refuse the attentions of the male, or, having re- 
ceived them, she may prove infertile, or she 
may become excited so as to injure herself and 
give birth prematurely. But, worst of all, 
even after producing a litter of healthy young, 
she may be so solicitous for their safety that 
in her effort to get them out of imaginary 
harm's way she maltreats or kills them. 

When born the young are small and weak, 
but if all is well they grow rapidly, and when 
about six weeks old begin to come out to play 
and to lap a little milk or to take an occasional 
bit of solid food. If allowed to do so, they will 
continue to nurse for nearly six months. 

Importance of good care. Keeping the foxes 
in a secluded place free from visitors is not 
sufficient alone to overcome these difficulties. 
Although strangers should be kept away, a 
regular attendant should visit the animals 
daily and use every effort to gain their confi- 



FOXES AND FOX-FARMING 227 

dence. This is not easy, and a great deal de- 
pends upon the personality of the man in 
charge. One not thoroughly interested or not 
naturally fond of animals, and therefore slow 
to understand their ways, is not likely to suc- 
ceed. Careful observation and a faculty of 
intuition enables a good keeper to anticipate 
the moods of the animals, and to interpret their 
actions at critical times, so as to act quickly 
and without violence. He knows just when the 
foxes are getting too much food, just when the 
sexes should be brought together or separated, 
when the female becomes pregnant, when the 
young should be born, when they need special 
attention, and when they may safely be left to 
the exclusive care of the mother. He is not 
over-inquisitive as to the number of young that 
are born, and seldom needs to disturb the anx- 
ious parent, relying on her actions to show 
whether the little ones are thriving. 

BEEEDING FOE IMPEOVED STOCK. 

Hope for increased profits in fox-raising lies 
almost entirely in improving the stock, and 
successively getting better and blacker coats, by 



228 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

selective breeding. The darker the animal the 
more valuable its pelt. Hence the object of 
every breeder should be to produce pure black 
foxes, or as nearly pure black as possible. To 
do this he must retain his darkest and most 
valuable animals for breeding, selling only the 
poorer ones. The temptation to sell animals 
of high value is often very great, but in the 
long run such animals are likely to be more 
profitable if kept for breeding. The possibil- 
ities of modification and improvement by selec- 
tion are fully as great with wild animals as 
with domestic, and already have been demon- 
strated in the case of foxes. Some of the high- 
est-priced fox- skins ever put on the market 
have been from animals reared in confinement 
and improved by selective breeding. 

Breeding for disposition is perhaps fully as 
important as breeding for color. So far this 
has not been attempted to any extent, but in 
Mr. Osgood's opinion it may be of great im- 
portance in overcoming some of the princi- 
pal difficulties now encountered. By selecting 
those animals which show the least aversion to 
man, due regard being paid to other qualities, 



FOXES AND FOX-FABMING 229 

such as prolificness, a strain may be obtained 
which will breed with the certainty of our do- 
mestic animals. This in time should produce 
a thoroughly domesticated race of foxes, a re- 
sult of inestimable value, amply justifying the 
utmost efforts. Although it may not be fully 
accomplished by those who begin it, every 
breeder should keep its importance in mind, for 
every slight improvement will be to his ad- 
vantage, and in the end the unqualified success 
of the business will be assured. 

Slight improvement of individual male an- 
imals not intended for breeding may be ob- 
tained by castration. This has been tried with 
red foxes, and found to yield an animal of 
somewhat increased size. In buying a young 
breeding-pair of silver foxes great care is nec- 
essary. Try to see the parents of the proposed 
purchase. October is the best month for buy- 
ing, and examination should be made in bright 
sunshine. An experienced breeder advises the 
use of a magnifying-glass in examining the fur 
to see if it is thick and glossy with a long dark 
under-fur and no trace of red, especially inside 
the ears. 



230 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

Preparation of skins. The preparation of 
skins requires some care, but no special imple- 
ments or preservatives. The opening and only 
cut is made with a sharp-pointed knife, begin- 
ning on the bottom of one hind foot and extend- 
ing up to the hind side of the leg to the vent 
and thence down the other leg to the foot. The 
entire body is removed through this opening, 
using the knife to separate the skin when 
necessary, and proceeding down over the head 
to the lips, where the final cuts are made. Thus 
the skin is turned completely inside out. The 
-tail bone must be carefully withdrawn, prefer- 
ably by the use as a vise of two firmly-held 
sticks (or a split stick), through which the bone 
is passed. To facilitate this it may sometimes 
be necessary to slit the tail on the under-side. 
The skin is then carefully fleshed — that is, all 
the fats and bits of flesh adhering to it are re- 
moved. To dry the skin it is slightly stretched 
on a long, narrow, somewhat tapering board 
with a blunt, rounded end. After slipping 
over the board (hair side in) it should be hung 
in a cool, dry place, and allowed to dry gradu- 
ally. Ordinarily no preservative is necessary, 



FOXES AND FOX-FARMING 231 

and the drying should not be hastened by ex- 
posure to the sun or artificial heat. 

Expectation of profit. Every silver-fox 
raised is likely to yield a pelt having a market 
value of over $100. Even pale skins bring this 
figure, and darker ones much more. Pure black 
skins command prices ranging from $500 to 
$2,000. It is, therefore, evident that a moder^ 
ate income may be derived by raising compara- 
tively few foxes. In the present stage of the 
business the sale of foxes for breeding-stock is 
very profitable, as the live animals in good con- 
dition often bring fully twice as much as their 
cured skins. In fact, good, live, silver foxes 
seldom can be obtained for less than $500 per 
pair, and much higher prices have been paid. 

The high prices paid for silver-fox skins are 
due to the rarity of the animals, and the ex- 
tensive production of such skins would neces- 
sarily tend to a reduction in price. Increasing 
population and wealth, however, insure a large 
future demand for fine furs, and no great de- 
crease in prices is likely to occur until produc- 
tion reaches large proportions. 



CHAPTEE XIV 
GRAY WOLVES AND COYOTES 

The time has gone by when the farmer in the 
eastern half of the United States has to guard 
his stock and perhaps his family against wolves 
as in the days of his forefathers. In the north- 
ern parts of Canada, however, in the forested 
parts of northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and: 
Minnesota, and in scattered localities through- 
out the whole Northwest, and thence northward 
to the Arctic regions, the great gray or timber 
wolf is still a menace to the ranchman if not 
to the cultivator of fields. It also causes the 
destruction of great numbers of game — espe- 
cially deer, — which can ill be spared ; and now 
and then attacks travelers or their horses when 
picketed out at night. 

Consequently ranchmen are everywhere mak- 
ing determined cooperative efforts, aided by 
the government, to kill them off, by breaking 
up their dens and trapping and poisoning the 

232 



GRAY WOLVES AND COYOTES 233 

old ones. The most effectual method is by 
searching out and destroying the dens and pups, 
of which six to ten are usually born in a litter 
to a pair of gray wolves. These are produced 
early in spring in some rocky niche or cave or 
sheltered hollow in the open country, and in a 
hollow log or stump when the region is forested. 
Both parents continue in company, caring for 
the young, until the latter are well-grown. 

Character of the coyote. The smaller-red- 
dish prairie-wolves or coyotes (coy-yo-teh) are 
far more widespread, numerous and annoying, 
though rarely dangerous ; and if farming oper- 
ations, with their attending domestic animals 
and poultry, are to be carried on in the plains 
country or mountain valleys of the West ; and if 
sheep-farming is ever to be made productive 
there, these keen and pertinacious little wolves 
must be subdued. At the same time it must 
not be forgotten that they perform a most 
excellent service by killing a vast number of 
noxious mice, gophers, prairie-dogs, rabbits 
and other pests. If it were possible, then, to 
keep the coyote as a harmless ranger of the 
plains, — a sort of Cossack that freed the fron- 



234 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

tiers of marauders while doing no damage to 
human arts and interests — it would be a most 
advantageous arrangement; and it is toward 
this solution of the problem that efforts should 
be concentrated. The following general ac- 
count of the animal and its habits is by David 
E. Lantz: 

"While in general denizens of the higher open 
plains, coyotes are found also on the low tropical 
coasts of Mexico and Texas and in the higher moun- 
tain ranges of the interior. In the northern and 
northeastern parts of their range they inhabit par- 
tially wooded country, and even on the plains they 
are partial to broken and hilly sections. 

"Coyotes breed once a year. The mating season 
is late in January or early in February. The period 
of gestation is about sixty-three days. The young 
are produced in dens and number from four to eight 
or even more. The dens are usually enlarged from 
those made by badgers or smaller animals, and are 
often among rocks or in washed-out places along 
banks of streams. Probably at times they are made 
entirely by the coyotes. They are rarely far below 
the surface, but sometimes of considerable extent, 
and with two or more openings. Little attempt is 
made to provide nests for the young. In the Central 
West these are born early in April, and usually may 
be heard in the dens during May. In June they come 
out to play around the mouths of the burrows, which 



GRAY WOLVES AND COYOTES 235 

are finally deserted during July. By August 1 the 
young are left by the parents to shift for themselves. 

' ' In the earlier descriptions the prairie wolves were 
usually said to hunt in packs. Lewis and Clark, Say, 
Richardson, and others so reported, but the Prince 
of "Wied met them only singly. It is probable that 
they hunt in numbers only when the quarry is large, 
as in the case of deer and antelope, and as many as 
three have been known to pursue a single jack-rabbit. 

"Coyotes feed chiefly upon animal matter, but 
when such food is scarce they freely eat peaches, 
apricots, grapes, and other fruits, and even melons, 
usually destroying more than they eat. In certain 
areas they feed largely on juniper berries, manzanita 
berries, and the fruit of the prickly pear. . . . 
Horned toads and other lizards are eaten, and, on 
the low, tropical coast of eastern Mexico and Texas, 
coyotes have been seen searching the beach for crabs, 
fish and turtle-eggs. 

"Beneficial food-habits. Coyotes destroy many in- 
jurious species of mammals, and in this way are 
of positive benefit to farming interests. The various 
species of jack-rabbit are often included in their diet, 
and the smaller rabbits are habitually eaten. The 
constant warfare of the coyote upon these rodents 
has much influence in keeping down their numbers, 
and the growing abundance of rabbits in some sec- 
tions of the West has been attributed to the destruc- 
tion of coyotes as the result of high bounties offered 
for them. 

"Prairie-dogs also are a staple coyote food. The 



236 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

coyote usually captures them by hiding behind 
clumps of weeds or bunches of grass at some distance 
from the burrows, and when, in feeding, the unsus- 
pecting rodent approaches near enough a few leaps 
enable the coyote to capture it. It is probably the 
fear of the coyote that causes the prairie-dogs to crop 
off all the tall, growing grass and weeds near their 
burrows. 

"In addition to rabbits and prairie-dogs the food 
of the coyote includes rice-rats, kangaroo-rats, wood- 
rats, ground-squirrels, woodchucks, pocket-gophers, 
chipmunks, and pocket-mice. All of these are harm- 
ful to agriculture, and the coyote in preying upon 
them performs a valuable service to man. This 
service is not spasmodic, but lasts throughout the 
year and throughout the life of the coyote, and has 
an important influence in helping maintain the 'bal- 
ance of nature.' 

"The coyote is useful also as a scavenger. In the 
prairie country, especially in winter, it comes into 
towns at night searching for garbage. Here it finds 
remnants of meat from the table, offal, and similar 
prizes. When hungry it rejects no animal food, not 
even carrion. The slaughter-houses near the towns 
are favorite feeding places, and the animals are often 
shot there. On the ranges they soon consume dead 
horses and cattle, leaving the bones clean. 

"Injurious food-habits. Considerable game is de- 
stroyed by coyotes, including quail, grouse, and 
wild ducks, and their eggs. . . . hens, ducks, 
geese, and turkeys. Its usual method of capturing 



GRAY WOLVES AND COYOTES 237 

them in daytime is to lurk behind weeds or bushes 
until the fowls are within reach. Turkeys, which 
range far afield in search of grasshoppers and other 
insects, are frequent victims. At night the coyote 
captures poultry from the roost unless care is taken 
to guard against its entrance. A correspondent of 
the Biological Survey wrote from Kexburg, Idaho, 
that one neighbor lost 60 chickens and another 30 in 
one night by coyotes. A correspondent in Mayer, 
Ariz., wrote that he had lost about a hundred chick- 
ens by coyotes, but that, although they destroyed 
poultry, he believed them to be beneficial, as they 
kept down the rabbit pest. 

"In approaching ranch buildings, either by day or 
by night, the coyote comes from the leeward side and 
with great caution; but once satisfied that no danger 
lurks in the shadows, it becomes very bold." 

The coyote as a pest. Few of the mammals 
of the farm are exempt from the raids of this 
enterprising little wolf, whose record of mis- 
deeds includes the capture and death of young 
colts, calves, pigs, lambs and goats. The 
coyote watches until the little ones are left un- 
guarded a moment by their mothers, then rushes 
in. Under exceptional circumstances old ani- 
mals may be pulled down. It is especially, 
however, as an enemy of sheep that this hardy 
wolf becomes important in its relation to human 



238 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

industry. In many parts of the West the rais- 
ing of sheep has been greatly deterred on this 
account; and woeful stories of destruction are 
on record. It was this state of affairs that led 
the Biological Survey a few years ago to make 
special studies of the coyote situation. 

"It is evident that the wealth of any State can be 
materially increased if it is possible everywhere to 
keep small flocks of sheep. Flocks increase rapidly 
under favorable conditions and good management, 
and the cost of keeping is small when herders can 
be dispensed with. The double product, wool and 
mutton, usually places the profit of handling sheep 
above that of cattle or horses. The gains also come 
oftener, since sheep mature in a year, while cattle 
and horses require three. 

"In the region about Seguin, Tex., according to 
Vernon Bailey, chief field-naturalist of the Biological 
Survey, no sheep are kept, because of the abundance 
of coyotes. The farmers admit the advantage of in- 
troducing sheep, but the fear of coyotes deters them 
from the experiment. Similar conditions prevail 
over large areas in many parts of the West. The 
number of sheep in the United States has been de- 
creasing during the past two years [1904-5], while 
the price of wool has been excellent and the demand 
for mutton steadily increasing. Montana, with an 
area of 146,000 square miles, leads the States in the 
number of sheep kept, which is 5,638,967. Yet Eng- 



GRAY WOLVES AND COYOTES 239 

land, with an area of only 50,867 square miles, has 
about five times as many as Montana. In Montana 
sheep are herded in immense flocks ; in England every 
landowner and farmer keeps a small flock. 

"The advantage of sheep upon the farm as weed- 
destroyers is not usually appreciated in America. 
The Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station reports 
that out of 600 species of grasses and weeds, cattle 
are known to eat only 50, horses 82, while sheep eat 
550. With abundance of pasturage, favorable cli- 
mate, good prices for wool and mutton, and increased 
fertility and productiveness of the soil upon which 
sheep are grazed, there should be a decided advance 
in the sheep industry. 

"The chief discouragement seems to lie in the dep- 
redations of worthless dogs and coyotes. The evil of 
worthless dogs can be best remedied by a resort to 
taxation. Dogs should be regarded as property and 
taxed sufficiently to put all of the dangerous and 
worthless curs out of existence." 

The methods which have and may be used to 
lessen this pest by traps and poison are dis- 
cussed in the final chapter. Here it may be said 
that none of them are as satisfactory as fenc- 
ing, in spite of the stimulation of bounties by 
States and counties, and of the encourage- 
ment of hunting coyotes as a sport — and good 
sport it is when one rides to Eussian wolf- 
hounds or greyhounds. 



240 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

Fencing against other wild animals. Fen- 
cing as a means of protection against wild an- 
imals has for several years been in nse in the 
Australian colonies and in South Africa. In 
Australia wire nettings are used successfully to 
keep rabbits, dingoes, and some species of kan- 
garoos out of pastures and crops. In Cape 
Colony jackals are a great hindrance to sheep- 
and ostrich-farming, and have been successfully 
checked only by wire-fencing they could not get 
over, nor under nor through. The expense of 
such fencing in our own plains country would 
probably be $250 a mile; but it would pay for 
itself, according to the South African experi- 
ence, in the increased number of lambs reared, 
fleece secured, health of the stock, improved 
pasturage and less cost of herding. 

To those interested these arguments do not 
need expanding nor expounding ; nor is it need- 
ful to explain and discuss the recommenda- 
tions for various designs of fence. The follow- 
ing summary of recommendations made by 
Special Agent Lantz, of the Biological Survey, 
in 1905, are good for to-day, and have stood 
the test of experience: 



GRAY WOLVES AND COYOTES 241 

"Summary of Conclusions. — (1) Prairie coyotes 
will not willingly jump over a fence above 30 inches 
in height. 

"(2) They will readily climb over fences built of 
horizontal rails or crossbars, especially in order to 
escape from captivity. 

" (3) Barbed wires do not deter them from crawl- 
ing through a fence to escape. 

" (4) Woven- wire fences should have meshes, when 
rectangular, less than 6 by 6 inches to keep out 
coyotes. For such fences triangular meshes are much 
better than square ones. 

" (5) In fencing against coyotes with woven fences 
care must be used to see that there are no openings 
at the ground through which the animals can force 
themselves, since they are more likely to crawl under 
a fence than to jump over it. 

" (6) It seems reasonably certain that a fence con- 
structed of woven wire with a triangular mesh not 
over 6 inches across and having a height of 28 to 42 
inches, supplemented by two or three tightly stretched 
barbed wires, would prove to be coyote-proof. It is 
difficult to make exact estimates of the cost. "Woven 
fences differ in weight, price, and durability, and 
freight charges on materials depend on the distance 
from distributing points. The cost of posts and labor 
varies much. An estimate based on so many variable 
factors is of little value, but an average of $200 per 
mile would probably allow the use of the best ma- 
terials. ' ' 



CHAPTER XV 

THE FUR-BEARERS AND THEIR 
CULTURE 

Theke now present themselves a company of 
small carnivores of unusual interest in every 
aspect — the martens, ermines, wolverines, bad- 
gers, skunks, etc., — all of the weasel family 
Mustelidce. "They constitute,' ' as I have 
written elsewhere, "an army of sharp-toothed, 
keen-witted, bloodthirsty devourers of the 
small life of the world, doing in the North 
the police work which in the Oriental tropics is 
committed to the civet-cats and mungooses. 
These are the animals whose coats, acquired to 
keep themselves warm amid arctic frosts, make 
our most beautiful furs, as sable, marten, mink, 
ermine, and the rest. The sable is Siberian, 
the marten is North-European, and its Ameri- 
can brother is the pine-marten, or ' sable ' of the 
Canadian forests. The three are scarcely dis- 
tinguishable, each averaging about eighteen in- 
ches in length, plus seven or eight inches of tail, 

242 



CULTURE OF FUR-BEARERS 243 

and are brown, somewhat lighter below (throat 
and breast-spot orange in the Canadian sable), 
and variable according to age, sex, and season. 
The winter fnr is thick, soft, an inch and a half 
deep, of richest hue, and has scattered through 
it coarse black hairs which the furrier pulls 
out; the tail is somewhat bushy. . . ." 

Canadian fur-bearers. For two hundred 
and fifty years the Canadian marten has sup- 
plied, as had the sable for perhaps as many 
centuries, the most valuable furs sent to 
market, excepting a few rarities like sea- 
otter. 

North America also contains the giant of the 
tribe in Pennant's marten, named by the early 
French Canadians pekan, and by modern trap- 
pers "fisher," "black cat," or "black fox,"— it 
being none of the three! It is remarkable for 
its great size — 24 inches, plus 13 inches of tail 
— and for its dog-like head. A third still 
larger relative is the wolverine or "carcajou," 
an uncommonly large, clumsy, shaggy marten, 
of great strength, and displaying extreme per- 
severance and sagacity in procuring food 
where the supply is limited and precarious. 



244 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

All these, in early times common enough 
throughout all our northern forests, have been 
destroyed, or have retreated before civilization 
until now few are seen south of the wilds of 
northern Canada, where they still yield their 
furs to the Indian and the wandering trapper. 
This brings us to the more familiar weasels, 
minks and ferrets. 

''Slender, lithe, perfectly toothed, sharp-clawed, 
secretively colored, and endowed with strength, speed, 
cleverness, and indomitable courage, the weasels are 
the sconrge and terror of all the small ground-keep- 
ing animals, and do more than any other class of 
agents to restrain mice, gophers, and similar nui- 
sances. Some or all can climb, but their preference 
for the ground distinguishes them from the martens, 
as also do the comparatively short tail, close fur, 
three instead of four premolar teeth, and the pres- 
ence of anal glands whence they may discharge a 
fetid odor. This musky, nauseous secretion is most 
copious and evident in the large European polecat, 
but most distressing to human nostrils in an old mink ; 
and ordinarily it is not very noticeable in a weasel. 
Its emission is under control, and becomes perceivable 
mainly when the animal is excited or alarmed. Its 
service seems to be that of attracting the sexes; and 
trappers save it to put upon their bait as an addi- 
tional allurement." 



CULTUEE OF FUR-BEARERS 245 

The ermine and his family. Naturalists 
distinguish over 20 species and subspecies 
of weasel in North America. Most of them, 
however, belong to the West and far North, 
and they differ little in general character; 
such peculiarities as belong to each Dr. C. 
Hart Merriam, their monographer, connects 
with their food. Thus he finds that the group 
represented by our common eastern species 
(Putorius cicognani) flourishes only in the 
country where the meadow-mice abound; the 
large western weasel (P. longicauda) , does not 
range much outside of the region inhabited by 
the pocket-gophers ; the black-footed one (P. ni- 
gripes) frequents only the prairie-dog country 
southward; and "in the far North, where 
the frozen tundras are inhabited by lemmings 
as well as voles, two weasels are present: the 
tiny, narrow-skulled 'rixosus,' which feeds 
mainly on mice, and the large, broad-skulled 
'arcticus' (analogue of the true ermine) on 
lemmings and rabbits.' ' With these fine points 
of classification we need not here concern our- 
selves. A weasel, in the Old World or in the 



246 



ANIMAL COMPETITOES 







3iiftililiii? : ,ir" 








atfii 




■Bill 




CULTURE OF FUR-BEARERS 247 

New, in Labrador, or Florida, or Mexico, on 
the Yukon as on the Hudson, is substantially 
the same, — a keen, agile, relentless, indomitable 
hunter, within his powers a being of the high- 
est type of effectiveness. 

i 'The weasel's head is small and trim, 
An' he is little an' long an : slim, 
An' quick of motion an' nimble of limb. 

An' ef you'll be advised by me, 
Keep wide awake when you're catchin' him." 

The weasel turns white in winter in all cold, 
snowy latitudes — that is, when the brown sum- 
mer-coat is shed in the fall it is replaced by a 
white one, which in turn is lost in the spring 
and replaced by the soft brown again. The 
tip of the tail, however, always remains black. 
In this white winter dress with the black- 
tipped tail every weasel is an ''ermine"; and 
it is only in this coat that his fur becomes valu- 
able in the market. It comes to market from 
Alaska, northern Canada and sub-arctic Rus- 
sia, and is used mainly for trimmings of 
garments. In old times it was reserved exclu- 
sively for the wearing of royalty, and of cer- 
tain officers of high rank. It was especially 



248 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

prominent in England in the regalia of judges ; 
whence our figurative expression "the ermine' ' 
as a symbol of the judicial office. 

Large, purely white ermine skins are still 
valuable in the fur-market, so that the animal 
is well worth the attention of trappers; but 
it is chiefly in its other relations that it now 
interests us. 

Weasels and chickens. Weasels of one sort 
or another are more or less common in all parts 
of the country, even to the suburbs of the 
cities; and they are so swift, secretive, alert 
and wise that they remain everywhere numer- 
ous in spite of the constant efforts of the aver- 
age countryman to kill them off. 

This enmity is due mainly to the animal's 
delight in killing chickens, at which it is ex- 
ceedingly expert and bold, often invading a 
barn-yard in full daylight; and when one — or 
more usually a pair — has acquired the habit 
of chicken-killing it is likely to murder the 
whole flock in a short time if not prevented. 
This bloodthirst is only a natural outcome of 
its habit of preying on wild birds, especially 
those which keep to the ground; and in places 



CULTURE OF FUR-BEARERS 249 

where quail or game is preserved the animal 
often does great harm. 

It does not appear, however, that every 
weasel kills chickens, nor that the same weasel 
devotes its whole energies to this end, as a 
man-eating tiger will do when once it learns 
how easy it is to secure human prey. It seems, 
rather, that an occasional weasel now and then 
seizes a pullet or duck. The worst of it is, 
however, that when it has done so its ferocity 
is likely to be so fired by the taste or smell of 
blood that it goes on massacring the fowls 
after the manner of a wolf or a puma in a 
sheep-fold, as though in a rage of blood intoxi- 
cation. 

The weasel as a mouser. There is another 
side to the account, however, and that is the 
ceaseless and extensive beneficial work of these 
ferocious little creatures in pursuit of the ro- 
dents which year by year destroy more grain 
and young trees than all the poultry loss of 
a year amounts to a hundred times over. In 
the West they are the determined and inde- 
fatigable enemies of ground-squirrels, gophers 
and all sorts of mice, which they follow to the 



250 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

uttermost ends of their burrows if necessary. 
Mr. Osgood says of the small Arizona weasels : 
"They are the most effective enemy of pocket- 
gophers. ... In a narrow valley where an 
old weasel had her young I found it impos- 
sible to secure a single pocket-gopher. A 
single weasel will effectually keep down the go- 
phers and meadow-mice on a field or small 
ranch. Except in very rare cases they should 
be protected with the greatest care." The 
black-footed "ferret" (a true weasel) is rarely 
found away from prairie-dog towns, where it 
plays the bandit unceasingly. The writings 
of naturalists abound in evidence of the same 
sort. A notable instance may be found in the 
great work on American mammals, The Quad- 
rupeds of North America, published half a 
century ago by Audubon and Bachman, a few 
paragraphs from which may well be quoted : 

"Whenever an ermine has taken up its residence 
the mice in its vicinity for half a mile around have 
been found rapidly to diminish in number. Their 
active little enemy is able to force its thin vermiform 
body into the burrows, it follows them to the end 
of their galleries, and destroys whole families. We 
have on several occasions, after a light snow, followed 



CULTURE OF FUR-BEARERS 251 

the trail of this weasel through fields and meadows, 
and witnessed the immense destruction which it occa- 
sioned in a single night. It enters every hole under 
stumps, logs, stone heaps and fences, and evidences 
of its bloody deeds are seen in the mutilated remains 
of the mice scattered on the snow. The little chip- 
ping or ground squirrel, Tamias Lysteri, takes up its 
residence in the vicinity of the grain-fields and is 
known to carry off in its cheek-pouches vast quanti- 
ties of wheat and buckwheat, to serve as winter stores. 
The ermine instinctively discovers these snug retreats, 
and in the space of a few minutes destroys a whole 
family of these beautiful little T amice; without even 
resting awhile until it has consumed its now abundant 
food, its appetite craving for more blood, as if im- 
pelled by an irresistible destiny, it proceeds in search 
of other objects on which it may glut its insatiable 
vampire-like thirst. The Norway rat and the com- 
mon house mouse take possession of our barns^ wheat 
stacks, and granaries, and destroy vast quantities of 
grain. In some instances the farmer is reluctantly 
compelled to pay even more than a tithe in contribu- 
tions towards the support of these pests. Let, how- 
ever, an ermine find its way into these barns and 
granaries, and there take up its winter residence, and 
the havoc which is made among the rats and mice will 
soon be observable. The ermine pursues them to their 
farthest retreats, and in a few weeks the premises are 
entirely free from their depreciations. We once 
placed a half-domesticated ermine in an outhouse 
infested with rats, shutting up the holes on the 



252 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

outside to prevent their escape. The little animal 
soon commenced his work of destruction. The squeak- 
ing of the rats was heard throughout the day. In the 
evening, it came out licking its mouth, and seemed like 
a hound after a long chase, much fatigued. A board 
of the floor was raised to enable us to ascertain the 
result ol our experiment, and an immense number of 
rats were observed, which, although they had been 
killed in different parts of the building, had been 
dragged together, forming a compact heap. 

''The ermine is then of immense benefit to the 
farmer. We are of the opinion that it has been over- 
hated and too indiscriminately persecuted." 

Again, in another place, Dr. Bachman returns 
to the weasel's abilities as follows: 

"We have traced the footsteps of this bloodsucking 
little animal on the snow, pursuing the trail of the 
American rabbit, and although it could not overtake 
its prey by superior speed, yet the timid hare soon 
took refuge in the hollow of a tree, or in a hole dug 
by the marmot or skunk. Thither it was pursued 
by the ermine and destroyed, the skin and other re- 
mains at the mouth of the burrow bearing evidence 
of the fact. We observed an ermine, after having 
captured a hare of the above species, first behead it 
and then drag the body some twenty yards over the 
fresh fallen snow, beneath which it was concealed, and 
the snow lightly pressed down over it; the little 
prowler displaying thereby a habit of which we be- 
came aware for the first time on that occasion. To 



CULTURE OF FUR-BEARERS 253 

avoid a dog that was in close pursuit, it mounted a 
tree and laid itself flat on a limb about twenty feet 
from the ground, from which it was finally shot. We 
have ascertained by successful experiments, repeated 
more than a hundred times, that the ermine can be 
employed, in the manner of the ferret of Europe, in 
driving our American rabbit from the burrow into 
which it has retreated. In one instance the ermine 
employed had been captured only a few days before, 
and its canine teeth were filed, in order to prevent 
its destroying the rabbit; a cord was placed around 
its neck to secure its return. It pursued the hare 
through all the windings of its burrow, and forced 
it to the mouth, where it could be taken in a net, or 
by the hand. ' ' 

Seton, in his magnificent work on Northern 
Mammals, relates many instances of the wea- 
sel's work in Canada, mentioning among other 
facts its persistent preying upon rabbits. In 
Lantz's Economic Study of Field-Mice is given 
a letter from a farmer in Waukegan, 111., who 
writes : 

"Two years ago a pair of weasels took up their 
abode in our tree-cellar, breeding there last year. 
They kept most of the mice killed off. In the sum- 
mer we saw the old one quite often carrying mice to 
its young from outside the shed." 



254 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

Weasels are extraordinarily fearless of man- 
kind, and will soon become so regardless of him 
as to be positively tame. In the West miners 
and lmnters often welcome them to their cabins 
and establish very friendly relations with them, 
recognizing that they keep the premises free 
from the wild mice, which otherwise would in- 
fest the -houses and play havoc with supplies 
brought in at great expense and labor. This is 
only a return to a very ancient practice, for, 
as I have shown in my Life of Mammals, the 
household mouser of the Greeks was not a cat, 
but a weasel — the European stone-marten. 

Life of the mink. The mink is a semi- 
aquatic weasel. It inhabits the whole of the 
United States, excepting the arid regions, 
which are unfitted for its habits of life. It is 
a species of great economic importance, both 
on account of the value of its fur and on ac- 
count of its injurious habits. As an enemy to 
the poultry yard it ranks ahead of all other 
North-American mammals. Furthermore, it 
kills large numbers of fish, as it not only swims 
and dives with facility, but can remain long 
under water, pursuing and capturing its prey 



CULTURE OF FUR-BEARERS 255 



by following it below the surface. Oftentimes 
its destructiveness in this respect renders it a 
serious obstacle to the industry of fish-culture. 
Though amphibious, and commonly inhabiting 
the borders of ponds and streams, it makes 
long excursions, and is frequently found in 




THE AMERICAN MINK. 



places remote from water-courses. It often 
takes up its abode in or near the poultry-yard 
or duck-pond, remaining there for weeks. Its 
small size and nocturnal habits help to conceal 
its movements, and the daily loss of a fowl is 
commonly attributed to the skunk, fox, weasel, 
or owl. The mink is remarkably strong for so 



256 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

small an animal, and has been known to drag 
a mallard duck more than a mile in order to 
get to its hole, where it was joined by its mate. 

Value of the mink. Such is the farmer's 
view of the mink, but the picture is not with- 
out a brighter side. His loss of chickens and 
eggs is largely due to his own slovenly way of 
keeping his property, or rather of trusting it 
to keep itself. The depredations of the mink 
are almost wholly made at night. A tight 
poultry-house will keep him out, — even a wire- 
fence of small mesh around the yard will do 
so. If the chickens are allowed to roost in 
trees or in any old shed it is foolish to com- 
plain when they are seized by rats, weasels, 
minks, skunks or, — 'coons. 

In its natural life the mink habitually feeds 
upon small mammals, birds and their eggs, 
fish, frogs, turtles' eggs, crayfish, earthworms 
and the like. It is one of the busiest hunters 
of injurious rodents, particularly muskrats 
and common rats and mice. Hence it is a pub- 
lic benefactor in localities where muskrats 
damage dikes, canals, irrigating ditches, and 
ponds ; and day by day it seeks out the runways 



CULTURE OF FUR-BEARERS 257 

of the wild mice and devours their families. 
If you catch sight of a prowling mink, some 
day, along the brookside, squeak like a mouse, 
and see how interested he will at once become. 
Indeed, a mink or a weasel which takes up its 
abode under a barn will soon clear out the rats. 

Good mink-skins have always fetched a fair 
price, and this price is rising. As they are 
abundant, and among the most easily trapped 
of our wild animals they have ever been one 
of the sources of pocket-money to the lads of 
the rural parts of the country. 

"The old-fashioned deadfall is the trap that 
should be used," Seton advises, "as it does not 
injure the fur and it kills the animal instantly, 
so that there is no unnecessary suffering. 
The box-trap is effectual and humane if visited 
regularly. It should have, at the back, a 
window covered with % -inch-mesh wire netting. 
It has the advantage of protecting its catch 
from passing marauders. The steel trap, if 
used, should be visited often. The less the 
creatures suffer the better the fur." The pelt 
should be stripped and cased in the same man- 
ner as that of the ermine or the muskrat. 



258 



ANIMAL COMPETITORS 



MinJc cultivation for profit. The raising of 
captive mink for the sake of the fur has been 
tried very often, and succeeds well where one 




HOME OF A MINK FAMILY IN A STUMP IN NORTHERN ONTARIO. 

pays proper attention to it, and the expenses 
can be kept low enough to ensure a profit from 



CULTURE OF FUR-BEARERS 259 

the results. Such establishments are known 
as "minkeries,'' and have been described in 
many publications. 

It frequently happens that a pair of young 
minks are caught; or a full-grown male and 
one or more females may be bought from deal- 
ers who advertise their wares in journals de- 
voted to sport or to trapping. One male will 
suffice for five or six females. The breeding 
season is February, when the females all come 
into heat, and for three or four weeks the male 
should be allowed to associate with them freely. 
Their behavior will indicate when they no 
longer need his attentions. The period of 
gestation is 42 days, so that births will occur 
early in April. They number five or six, as a 
rule, sometimes ten, are blind, almost naked, 
and remain hidden in the nest for five or six 
weeks, when they begin to come out; but they 
stay with the mother, and are the object of her 
tender solicitude and brave defense until the 
end of the summer. If taken in hand when 
they first appear they will become as tame, 
gentle and playful as kittens, provided they are 
kept entirely away from the mother. Res- 



260 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

seque, a mink-breeder whose experience and 
methods are described particularly in Elliot 
Coues's Fur-bearing Animals, admits, how- 
ever, that they become exceedingly mischiev- 
ous, prying into all sorts of food receptacles, 
etc., and can hardly be recommended as house- 
hold pets. Merriam trained some in his pos- 
session to be excellent ratters, following the 
rats into their holes and soon clearing all the 
premises of this pest. 

Care of captive minks. In planning a 
minkery a yard say 50 feet square should be 
set apart and enclosed by a tight board fence 
7 or 8 feet high, which should rest upon a stone 
or cement foundation sunk 2 feet into the 
ground ; or else a close and strong wire netting 
must be deeply sunk along the bottom, for 
minks are good diggers. The top of the fence 
should have an inward overhang of tin, zinc 
or galvanized iron at least 2 feet wide, and still 
broader at the corners, or else the animals will 
climb out. Of course the best way would be 
to pave the whole interior with, and base the 
fence upon, concrete, but this is costly ; if it is 



CULTURE OF FUR-BEARERS 261 

done the cement floor should be covered with a 
deep layer of earth. 

At one end of this enclosure should be built 
of strong, close meshed wire netting, a series 
of cages, resting on a tight wooden floor, each 
about 3 feet high, 8 or 10 feet long and about 
4 feet wide. These are for the use of the 
breeding females, one to each cage. In the 
front of each should be a door large enough to 
pass in and out a nesting-box about the size of 
a raisin-box, with a small hole for admittance 
of the animal, closed by a sliding door so that 
she may be shut in if desirable. 

The remainder of the enclosure should be 
divided in the middle by a fence of close wire 
netting, guarded from digging and climbing 
like the outer fence, forming two courts or 
yards for exercise, etc. A small low door will 
afford communication between these yards. 
Water must be supplied in abundance — run- 
ning water if possible. There should be a 
trough for each breeding-cage and a large 
swimming tank which may be accessible from 
both yards. The cost of such an outfit will 



262 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

vary with circumstances, but may easily be cal- 
culated. 

"Mink," says Seton, "may be fed exactly as 
one would feed a house-cat — table-scraps va- 
ried with meat two or three times a week. 
Fish is very much to their liking, and may be 
given nearly every day if other things are used. 
Bread and milk, johnny-cake, etc., should be 
added for variety ; even raw liver may be given 
sparingly at intervals, but cooked food, as a 
rule, is safer. Two light meals, morning and 
night, or one substantial meal, late in the day, 
is sufficient ; and at all times an abundance l( of 
clean water. ... A fast-day once in two 
weeks is a good thing for fat animals." 

Each old animal should have a cage to itself 
and be kept in it except in the breeding month 
(February), when a male and four, five or six 
females may be turned out together in one of 
the yards; but persistently bad-tempered ones 
should be taken away from the band. No bad 
smell will be made if general cleanliness is 
maintained, the yard-soil being frequently 
raked and overturned to remove droppings and 
air it. If their cages are kept clean the ani- 



CULTURE OF FUR-BEARERS 263 

mals are likely to remain perfectly neat and 
healthy and they will breed regularly and grow 
fine coats. The best should always be kept for 
breeding, and so the stock will be steadily 
improved. 

The beautiful otter. The noble and beauti- 
ful otter has become so rare south of the north- 
ern wilderness, or outside of large tracts of 
southern swamp-lands, that it has little claim 
to inclusion in a book devoted to the industrial 
aspects of our wild quadrupeds. The food of 
otters is mainly fish ; and in a preserved stream 
they may do vast damage to the angler's 
treasures by devouring numberless trout. 
They also catch and kill many muskrats. 
Merriam, in his natural history of the Adiron- 
dacks, and Seton in his Northern Mammals, 
give extensive biographies of this most inter- 
esting and most intelligent of the mustelid 
race. 

This brings us to the related group of fur- 
bearers which includes the badgers and skunks. 

The misunderstood badger. Our badger is 
very similar to the European one, and formerly 
occurred wherever west of the Alleghanies un- 



264 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

forested country gave it the conditions it liked. 
Its general habits, so far as they can be ob- 
served in so shy, secretive and well-hidden a 
creature, are interesting, as I have shown in 
the chapter "A Badger and his Kin" in my 
Wild Neighbors. These cannot be dwelt upon 
here, but they show that none of our small 
mammals has been more misunderstood or 
mistakenly and wastefully persecuted. As a 
result the badger is now restricted in its dis- 
tribution to the arid region, although scattered 
pairs linger here and there even in Wisconsin 
and Minnesota. And yet, its disappearance 
has not been wholly due to reckless destruction, 
for it seems unable to endure the forestation 
and cultivation of lands as they are settled. 
This may be due to the sedentary nature of the 
little beast, which is by no means a wanderer 
or even a traveler. Seton remarks that prob- 
ably a badger never in his whole life goes a 
mile from the home in which he was born. The 
consequence is that when a family has been ex- 
terminated another is not likely to take its 
place. It is for this reason that a man should 
be careful how he wastes the life of a badger 



CULTURE OF FUR-BEARERS 265 

on his property, for not only is he putting out 
of business a most useful ally in his contest 
with nature, but is destroying one which will 
not easily be replaced. 

Apart from that wanton, thoughtless disposi- 
tion to kill any and every wild creature met 
with, which possesses the ruder sort of men, 
and most boys who have not been taught to 
restrain the innate savagery of the human an- 
imal, the excuses made for killing badgers are 
usually either that its fur is wanted or that it 
digs bad holes in the ground. 

As to the pelt it is now of no great value, 
and its use is mainly to furnish hairs for art- 
ists' pencils and for the making of shaving- 
brushes. The hide is strong, however, and 
good overcoats and carriage-robes may be made 
of it. 

Badger-holes as man-traps. The second ex- 
cuse is that it digs holes in the land which may 
be dangerous pitfalls for horses and cattle, and 
which furnish runways for water that some- 
times, after heavy storms, develop into bad 
gullies. 

That this charge was originally well-founded 



266 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

I know by my own observation in the North- 
west, as well as by reading. In the buffalo-coun- 
try, where gophers and spermophiles dwelt in 
countless numbers, badger-holes were in old 
times extraordinarily numerous. "I do not 
see how they could well be more numerous any- 
where," wrote Dr. Elliott Coues of the region 
of the Upper Missouri as he saw it in 1875. 

"In some favorite stretches of sandy, sterile soil, 
their burrows are everywhere, together with those 
of kit-foxes, prairie-dogs and spermophiles, and, as 
already stated, these holes are a source of annoyance 
and even danger to the traveler. In ordinary jour- 
neying one has to keep constant lookout lest his horse 
suddenly goes down under him, with a foreleg deep 
in a badger-hole; and part of the training of the 
western horse is to make him look out for and avoid 
these pitfalls. In the buffalo country particularly, 
badgers live in extraordinary numbers, attracted and 
retained by the surety of abundant food-supply. 

' ' The burrows of the badger are known from those 
of the prairie-dog and other spermophiles by their 
greater dimensions ; besides, they differ from the for- 
mer in never being built up around the entrance 
into the regular mound or circular buttress which 
usually surmounts the well-kept domicile of Cynomys. 
From the holes of kit-foxes and coyotes they are not 
distinguishable with any certainty ; in fact it is prob- 
able that these animals frequently or almost habit- 



CULTURE OF FUR-BEARERS 267 

ually occupy deserted burrows of the badger, re- 
modeled, if need be, to suit their convenience. 

"But it must not be supposed that all the in- 
numerable badger-diggings are the residences of these 
animals. The badger, too slow of foot to capture 
the nimble rodents which form its principal food, 
perpetually seeks them in their own retreats; and it 
is the work of a few minutes for this vigorous miner 
to so far enlarge their burrows that it can enter 
and reach the deepest recesses. In places where the 
badgers and spermophiles most abound, the continual 
excavation of the soil by these animals fairly under- 
mines and honeycombs the ground. " 

Prehistoric plowing. The conditions above 
described existed mainly in regions of little use 
for agriculture, and as fast as civilization was 
extended into the badger country the animals 
lessened rapidly, for one reason or another, and 
their holes became filled up. This is illustrated 
by experience in Manitoba, where, as Seton in- 
formed us, "the work of the badger is now con- 
fined largely to the strips of prairie that exist 
along the road-allowances, where it can do but 
little harm." 

As an offset to these troublesome habits 
(from man's point of view) it must be remem- 
bered that by the incessant and multitudinous 



268 ANIMAL COMPETITOBS 

upheaval of the ground in his digging opera- 
tions, the badger has been for centuries assist- 
ing in that work of preparing the soil for man's 
cultivation which is the valuable heritage of the 
present from the small plains-animals of the 
past. Ever since the glaciers of the great Ice 
Cap left the surface of northern America an 
expanse of smooth rock and lifeless gravels 
they have been fallowing the soil of that great 
field which stretches from the Ohio to the Co- 
lumbia, and from the Eio Grande to the Sas- 
katchewan, and rendering it fruitful for the 
pasturage first of large game, next of the ranch- 
man 's herds and finally for the farmer's fat 
stock and for the planting of his grain and 
fruits. 

How the badger aids the farmer. It must 
be remembered that the badger's food consists 
almost wholly of those insects and animals 
which prey upon crops and young orchards, and 
in this his services have been and are of im- 
mense and constant value. Wherever he goes 
he picks up insects, and in Kansas is noted to 
have lived very largely on the dreaded grass- 
hoppers. Beetles and their grubs are taken, 



CULTURE OF FUR-BEARERS 269 

and now and then a snake or frog, a nest of 
ground-building birds, or even a settler's young 
chickens when they wandered too far afield ; but 
he rarely if ever raids a poultry-yard. These, 
however, are incidents of his carnivorous pur- 
suits, which are mainly nocturnal. The bulk of 
his food is found in the small and always mis- 
chievous rodents. As Osgood says : 

"Almost the whole life of the badger is spent in 
digging out the various rodents that constitute its 
food. It requires two or three fat ground squirrels 
a day, or a few gophers and a dozen mice, to keep a 
badger in good condition. ... In case of pocket- 
gophers the badger digs down in several places along 
the line of the burrow and sometimes succeeds in 
cornering and capturing the occupant. Mice are 
easily unearthed, and a nest of young mice is a special 
delicacy. . . . When in pursuit of a gopher, a 
badger may dig into and endanger ditch-banks, but 
in most cases the gopher, if left alone, would do far 
more mischief. 

"Practically the only enemy of the badger is man, 
and it seems incomprehensible that men of intelli- 
gence should wantonly destroy on every possible oc- 
casion the most useful and least harmful of all our 
native mammals. So generally, however, are badgers 
killed that after a valley has been settled for some 
time they become extremely scarce, and are really in 
danger of local extermination. As a result one of 



270 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

the most important checks on the increase of ground 
squirrels, mice, and gophers is removed, and these 
animals occasionally surprise the farmer by taking 
his whole crop." 

Skunks and skunk- farming. A similar plea 
may be made for skunks. These animals are 
far more widespread, equally harmless and 
quite as beneficial; and, like badgers, should 
everywhere be protected in country districts 
except in special cases. As for chicken-steal- 
ing, there is none of his race so little to be 
feared. The skunk is not as a rule a chicken- 
thief ; he is too large to creep through the small 
crevices that admit rats or minks, and he can't 
climb well. It is only needful to have a fairly 
well-fenced yard and tight coop to be quite safe 
from him. 

I have many times been asked to advise as to 
skunk-farming, and my advice has almost al- 
ways been No. This was due to the fact first 
that with wild skunks so numerous and easily 
trapped, and consequently skunk-pelts so cheap 
as is the case at present, little or no profit could 
be hoped for. Yet if done intelligently and on 
a large scale — several hundreds of skunks sys- 



CULTURE OF FUR-BEARERS 271 

tematically looked after — the enterprise would 
probably turn out a fair investment. 

The general directions as to housing, feeding, 
cleanliness and health would be substantially 
the same as those given for a mink-farm. 
Skunks, however, need much more room for 




A DOG-PROOF FENCE. 



wandering about, picking up insects, etc., so 
that several yards of an acre or so each should 
be provided for a large systematic skunkery, 
with 50 or so animals assigned to each. They 
are capable diggers, and the fences must be 
made secure at the bottom, but need be tall 



272 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

enough only to keep out dogs and other dis- 
turbers. The breeding-cages should have hol- 
low logs or underground vaults of stone or con- 
crete as nesting-dens; and all retiring-quarters 
must be roofed with a stout wire mesh to pro- 
tect the occupants from great horned owls — the 
skunk's worst enemy — big dogs and other ma- 
rauders. 

If the skunks are not frightened by rough 
treatment there is little or no danger from the 
musk-gun — an instrument kept as a last resort ; 
in fact captive skunks easily become docile and 
often affectionate and amusing pets. The best 
way to kill them, when that sad necessity arises, 
is by smothering with illuminating gas or some 
similar agent, or by drowning. The finest, 
blackest specimens should be selected for keep- 
ing as breeders,— the less white on a pelt the 
more valuable it is. It might be possible, in a 
few generations, to get a strain that should be 
wholly black. 



CHAPTER XVI 
RAISING DEER FOR PROFIT 

A chapter remains to be written on the wild 
hoofed animals of North America in their re- 
lation to the farmer and stock-breeder. This 
group includes the various deer, the almost 
extinct bison (buffalo), the antelope, the wild 
sheep (bighorn), the white goat, the peccary 
and the herds of escaped horses. Of these the 
most important, from our point of view, are the 
deer, the rearing of which, for profit, may be- 
come an industry in which the first-comers will 
reap a great harvest. 

Native American deer. Many forms of 
deer are native to the United States and Can- 
ada. The moose (substantially identical with 
the European elk) ; the caribou in several forms 
identical with or very similar to the European 
reindeer ; the wapiti, which we erroneously call 
"elk," and which is the American form of the 
red deer of Europe and its Asiatic analogues 

273 



274 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

from the Caucasus to Kamchatka; the widely 
spread Virginia or white-tailed deer; the mule 
or jumping deer of the West; the blacktail of 
the Pacific coast, and many intermediate sub- 
species. 

All these are now protected by law as the 
only means of saving the several species from 
total extinction by men who, to say the least, 
are utterly selfish; and there seems no good 
reason why some of them should not be cul- 
tivated, so as to form herds whose flesh and 
skins may be regularly sold as are those of 
cattle and sheep. This is doubly desirable as 
an economic movement, since it will not only 
add to the food-resources of the nation but may 
be a means of utilizing tracts of rough sterile 
land which otherwise will continue to lie idle. 

That venison is good food needs no proof, 
but it is not generally understood that besides 
having a most attractive flavor, and lending 
itself well to various methods of cooking, it is 
in composition and nutrient quality very sim- 
ilar to beef, and exceeds mutton in food-value, 
while quite as easily digestible. Venison is in 
constant demand — far greater demand than 



RAISING DEER FOR PROFIT 275 

can be supplied; and this will always be true; 
while the price is correspondingly high. The 
skins and horns of deer are also steadily salable 
at remunerative rates. 

Capability of domestication. It has been 
shown by centuries of experience in parks that 
deer of all kinds are susceptible of cultiva- 
tion, thriving and breeding readily in captivity 
under reasonable conditions, yet few attempts 
have been made to rear or domesticate them un- 
der intelligent management. Foremost among 
the exceptions to this negligence must be men- 
tioned the work of the Duke of Bedford in 
his park at Woburn Abbey, England, where a 
large number of species are assembled under 
the most favorable arrangement for their in- 
crease. 

"But raising deer for profit does not neces- 
sarily imply their complete domestication," as 
Mr. Lantz remarks in a Bulletin on this subject 
issued by the U. S. Department of Agriculture 
in 1908. ' ' They may be kept in large preserves 
with surroundings as nearly natural as pos- 
sible and their domestication entirely ignored. 
Thus the breeder may reap nearly all the profit 



276 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

that could be expected from a domestic herd, 
while the animals escape most of the dangers 
incident to close captivity. But the breeder 
who aims at the ultimate domestication of the 
animals, and whose herd approaches nearest to 
true domesticity, will in the end be most suc- 
cessful.' ' 

Rearing wapiti for profit. Of the various 
kinds of deer, native and foreign, with which 
one might stock a range or park, the most prof- 
itable, at any rate in the eastern or central 
parts of the country, would be elk (wapiti) and 
white-tailed deer. Breeding-stock of both these 
species is most easy to get, both are hardy in 
various climates and each has been tried by ob- 
servant experimenters. 

The best ground for an enterprise of this 
kind is precisely that of least value otherwise, 
— a rough tract, well watered and having some 
high nut-bearing timber and much brush with 
grassy spaces among it. Deer are both brows- 
ers and grazers — the elk eating grass much 
more freely than the whitetail. (Of course 
the two would not be herded together.) Where 
deep snow does not cover the ground for long 



RAISING DEER FOR PROFIT 277 

periods both deer will subsist very well in win- 
ter, the whitetail on browse, and the elk by 
pawing away light snow and eating the grass; 
but even where not required by the severity of 
the season regular winter feeding is advised. 
"Hay and cornf odder are excellent winter 
forage; but alfalfa hay has proved to be the 
best dry food for both elk and deer. A little 
oats or corn — whole or chopped — may be fed 
each day. Elk are fond of corn, and feeding it 
affords excellent opportunities for winning 
their confidence and taming them. The same 
may be said of salt, which should be furnished 
liberally to all deer kept in enclosures. Run- 
ning water, although not essential, is of great 
importance in maintaining elk in good condi- 
tion. " If not closely confined elk do not gnaw 
the bark from trees nor eat evergreen foliage; 
but, like goats, they do clear out the thickets. 

The providing of a buck and a few does to 
start with is not very expensive; but a rather 
costly item of preparation is the fencing. Or- 
dinarily a five-foot fence is sufficient, especially 
in the case of elk, which are less inclined to 
jump than are other deer. Old bucks, and 



278 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

even the young ones in the rutting season, are 
highly excitable, if not really vicious, and for 
these must be provided small and strong en- 
closures. It is, indeed, unsafe to let a male 
elk over four years old run at large, especially 
if he has once shown viciousness. The remedy 
for this is castration, which not only makes 
him docile but improves the venison; and all 
except the small breeding stud, frequently 
changed, should be so treated when young. 

"We find from long experience," writes a man 
who has made a business of deer-farming in the Ozark 
Mountains of Arkansas, ' ' that cattle, sheep and goats 
can be grazed in the same lots with elk, providing, 
however, that the lots or enclosures are not small; 
the larger the area the better. ... An elk is the 
natural enemy of dogs and wolves. We suffered 
great losses to our flocks until we learned this fact; 
since then we have had no loss. A few elk in a thou- 
sand-acre pasture will absolutely protect the flocks 
therein. 

The ivhitetail as an investment. Virginia 
deer are even better adapted than elk to rocky 
forested places, such as are so numerous in the 
Alleghenies. "Advocates of the Angbra-goat 
industry state that within the United States 



RAISING DEER FOR PROFIT 279 

there are 250,000,000 acres of land not suited 
to tillage or to the pasture of cattle, horses 
or sheep, which are well adapted to goats." 
Much of this land, it has been well suggested, 
is suited also to deer, and can be utilized for 
these animals with less injury to the forest- 
cover than would result from the browsing of 
goats. 

A herd of whitetail favorably located and 
properly cared for will increase in a steady and 
rapid ratio. The rutting season is in Novem- 
ber, and the fawns are born in May and June. 
A doe will breed when 18 months old, and at 
first produces only a single fawn, but after- 
ward usually two fawns. Certain diseases, es- 
pecially "black tongue," are to be feared, but 
an annual increase of 60 or 70 per cent, may be 
confidently looked for. Like elk the whitetails 
require a certain amount of winter feed; and 
also should have shelter provided against the 
winter storms. A stack of clover or pea hay to 
which they may have free access in winter is 
recommended; and they need plenty of water 
— a stream or pond being especially good for 
them. 



280 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

In selecting herd-bucks an intelligent owner 
will naturally seek the best in all respects ; and 
if this were carried out generally a greatly im- 
proved breed of deer would presently be de- 
veloped. 

The great hindrance in the way of instituting 
profitable enterprises in this much-to-be de- 
sired direction is the present condition of the 
laws relating to deer and venison, which have 
been made wholly with reference to sportsmen 
and pot-hunters. These laws vary locally, but 
in every state, probably, must be modified to 
admit of deer-farming and the sale of its prod- 
ucts. Such modifications will probably take 
the form of licensing private deer-parks and 
breeding-farms, with a method of tagging the 
venison so that it can be easily identified. 
Some progress in this direction has already 
been made, and more will follow as the industry 
grows. 

A pest of wild horses. In some parts of the 
West bands of wild horses, derived from es- 
caped stock, roam over the thinly settled plains 
and hills, and threaten to become a serious nui- 
sance. The United States Forest Service re- 



RAISING DEER FOR PROFIT 281 

cently stated that there are fifteen thousand of 
these untamed beasts upon the Toiyabe, To- 
quina and Monitor forest reserves in Landor 
County, Nevada, alone, and many more in 
neighboring districts. No fence is strong 
enough to stop these horses, and when they ap- 
pear in force they have even been known to 
knock down and kill cows and calves. After 
each visitation from a herd the ranchman is 
likely to mourn the loss of his domestic horses, 
and it requires only a few days' association 
with their new companions for the best-broken 
animals to become as wild as their nomadic 
comrades. 

The Legislature of Nevada passed a law 
many years ago allowing hunters to shoot wild 
horses and to sell their hides. The law opened 
the way to a new and profitable industry, and 
one which had the added zest of sport. Pres- 
ently, however, hide-hunters began to kill also 
branded and shod horses, and this caused a 
quick repeal of the law. This left the animals 
free to increase, and now they have become a 
serious pest. 

On the ranges of many of the national forests 



282 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

the supervisors have been trying for several 
years to devise a method to meet the difficulty 
in the face of the prohibitions enacted by local 
laws. The solution of the problem remains to 
be worked out. 

Texan mush-hogs. The small wild pig of 
western Texas, known in books as collared 
peccary, and to Texans as javelin or musk- 
hog, is more interesting than important. Once 
spread as far north as Arkansas, these pigs 
now abound only in the sandy, rocky districts 
along the lower Rio Grande, where they are 
extremely wary, hiding during the day in 
swamps, thorny thickets or among rocks, so 
that it is difficult to get near them without the 
aid of dogs and horses. Occasionally sports- 
men attempt to utilize this game for "pig-stick- 
ing" after East-Indian methods, but the sport 
usually involves severe injury to the horses 
before the tough little boar succumbs. They 
have formidable tusks in both jaws, those of 
the upper jaw being turned downward instead 
of upward as in typical swine, and all four as 
keen as knives. They run, when chased in 
open ground, with great fleetness, but will 



RAISING DEER FOR PROFIT 283 

squat and dodge like a rabbit, and it is at these 
quick turns that the horses get gashed. 

At night the javelins sally forth to dig roots, 
mushrooms, etc., and to feed upon nuts and 
acorns, the latter now forming their chief fare 
in Texas. They also kill and eat snakes, liz- 
ards, frogs, and any other small animals they 
can catch. Near settlements they are, or used 
to be, a nuisance by entering and damaging 
gardens and planted fields. These animals are 
to be seen in most zoological gardens where 
they thrive and grow tame ; but they have few 
qualities to recommend them in a practical 
way. 

Bighorn and mountain goat. The bighorn 
is easily domesticated and would doubtless 
flourish in any dry and elevated part of the 
country, but it appears to be of no practical 
value except for its flesh, and the gamy quality 
of that, which now recommends it, would prob- 
ably disappear in animals raised in a corral and 
fed an unvaried pasture or lowland fodder. 
The same may be said of the pronghorn ante- 
lope. Its flesh is a better "venison" than that 
of the sheep; but is difficult to adapt to cap- 



284 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

tivity, and would make more expense and 
trouble for its owner than the returns would be 
worth in the present state of the meat-market. 

The beautiful Eocky Mountain white goat, 
like the bighorn, is chiefly interesting and of 
value as an object of sport. Its flesh is very 
poor eating, and its pelt worthless, but its thick 
white hair and wool have been used by the 
Pacific Coast Indians from time immemorial 
for making robes, etc., and could enough of this 
fine soft coat be obtained doubtless civilized 
skill would transform it into beautiful fabrics. 
Perhaps the rearing of these goats may at 
some future time become an industry of Alaska 
and the Yukon Territory, where a large fixed 
population will slowly but surely be accumu- 
lated. 

Pronghomed antelope and bison. Anything 
for the preservation of this beautiful prong- 
horn, once so abundant in the West, must 
be done quickly. Late in 1910 eight head 
of this antelope, selected from the National 
herd in Yellowstone Park, were placed in the 
Wichita National Game Refuge in Oklahoma, 
through the generosity of members of the 



RAISING DEER FOR PROFIT 285 

Boone and Crockett Club of New York, who 
bore the expenses of the transfer. 

The pronghorn is unlike any other antelope 
on the face of the earth, and has so many pe- 
culiarities that naturalists class it in a family 
by itself. Formerly existing by thousands on 
our open western plains, it has now been so 
reduced in numbers that its absolute extinction 
is certain in the very near future unless pro- 
tection is given to the few remaining. It does 
not do well east of the Mississippi river, and 
can not be successfully bred in captivity; but 
it thrives if allowed to roam practically free 
within large enclosures and under conditions 
closely approaching the natural ones. In 1908 
the Biological Survey estimated that the total 
number of antelope in the United States had 
been reduced to 17,000. Of these about 10,000 
were in Montana, Wyoming, and the Yellow- 
stone National Park, and the remaining 7,000 
were distributed in 12 other states. On the 
Wichita Game Refuge it is hoped that the ante- 
lope will find themselves in surroundings suited 
to their increase. 

The Wichita is really a National Forest, but 



286 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

was set aside by Act of Congress as one of the 
two National Game Refuges because of its 
especial suitability as a breeding-place for the 
wild creatures of the plains. This does not 
mean that outside of these refuges the game 
on the National Forests is not protected, for 
the officers of the Forest Service are uniformly 
instructed to see that the game laws of the 
various states are observed on their forests, 
in so far as they can do this in justice to 
their other duties. Many of the Forest officers 
are regularly appointed Deputy State Grame 
Wardens, and it is the policy of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture to encourage their acting 
in this capacity when they can do so without 
prejudice to their work as Forest officers. In 
the Wichita and the Grand Canyon Game 
Refuges the Government has not left the mat- 
ter of caring for game protection wholly to 
the States, but has established national reser- 
vations on which an attempt will be made to 
breed game. 

The Wichita Refuge is further notable for 
the fact that it has a small herd of buffalo 
upon it, donated by the American Bison So- 



RAISING DEER FOR PROFIT 287 

ciety and shipped from the New York Zoolog- 
ical Garden in 1908. They then numbered 15, 
and in two years had been increased by the 
addition of 10 calves; but two of the original 
herd had died. 

The bison seems destined to remain with us 
only as an object of curious interest, and a 
reminder of the vast herds which so short a 
time ago pastured on our western plains. "In- 
teresting as have been the experiments made 
by Mr. C. J. Jones and others, in the cross- 
breeding of buffaloes with domestic cattle," de- 
clares W. T. Hornaday, than whom none is 
more fitted to render a verdict, "it is now quite 
time that all such experiments should cease. 
It has been proven conclusively that it is im- 
possible to introduce and maintain a tangible 
strain of buffalo blood into the mass of western 
range-cattle. ' ' 



CHAPTER XVII 

DIRECTIONS FOR POISONING AND 
TRAPPING 

The most effective method of warfare 
against the multitude of rodent pests of the 
granary, garden, field and orchard, and the 
wolf -enemies of the sheepfold, is undoubtedly 
by the use of poison. The employment of this 
agent requires knowledge and care, however, 
since it is equally dangerous to animals that 
the farmer has no desire to kill, and to himself 
and his family. Fortunately for us, therefore, 
we can now avail ourselves of the results of 
much experience and of carefully formulated 
advice prepared by experts. 

Waste of effort. We are met at the outset 
by the startling statement from the Biological 
Survey that "at present fully half the expendi- 
ture in the United States for rodent poisons is 
wasted." As it is added that "in the West the 
people of a single county sometimes expend 
$25,000 to $30,000 a year for poisons for de- 

288 



POISONING AND TRAPPING 289 

stroying rodent pests," and as insecticides and 
other poisons for the entire country cost many 
millions of dollars annually, the saving of waste 
in this item of agricultural expense is seen to 
be important. 

Probably the buyer of proprietary poisons 
has the greatest cause for complaint. Often 
one or two cents' worth of material is retailed 
at from 25 cents to a dollar. The difference be- 
tween the cost of the material and the selling 
price represents the manufacturer's profit and 
the retailer's profit. Such large returns enable 
proprietors to spend much money in advertis- 
ing or otherwise exploiting their wares, which, 
if not worthless, are never so good as an intel- 
ligent man may compound for himself at a 
small fraction of their price. It is to enable 
the readers of this book to do so that the in- 
structions which follow are here given. They 
are formulas which have been dictated by scien- 
tific knowledge and approved by experience; 
and the methods of application recommended 
are those which have been found to involve the 
least possible danger to man, to domestic stock, 
and to valuable wild birds and mammals. It 



290 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

should be remembered, however, that in most 
states laws exist relative to the putting ont of 
poisons ; and every man should inform himself 
as to these laws in his locality before beginning 
operations. 

Phosphorus and arsenic. The poisons most 
commonly used to destroy mammal pests in 
America are phosphorus, arsenic, and strych- 
nine. 

Yellow phosphorus seems to be the one 
most in use for the destruction of rats and 
other rodents, but there are several serious ob- 
jections to it. First, a fourth of a grain is a 
dangerous and sometimes fatal dose for a 
human being. 1 Second, its slow, irritant ac- 
tion causes needless torture to the animals 
killed — something we have no right to do. 
Third, it is very likely to cause disastrous fires. 
This substance is kept and cut under water and 
should not be touched with the hands. Its 
efficiency depends upon the fineness of its divi- 
sion, which is accomplished by first dissolving 

i Essence of turpentine is said to be a positive antidote for 
phosphorus poison, and a cure for external burns by this 
element. 



POISONING AND TRAPPING 291 

the phosphorus in carbon disulphide, after 
which the substance is mixed with any suitable 
material, as flour or meal or glucose in the rat 
and roach pastes (from 2 to 4 per cent, strong), 
or is formed into the waxy sticks offered for 
sale. Now its instability in contact with the 
oxygen of the air is so great that it is liable 
when dry, and has been known, to burst into 
flame, setting fire to everything it touched. 
Cases have occurred in the West where it has 
thus caused fires which destroyed entire fields 
of ripe wheat and barley, and buildings in which 
prepared phosphorus was stored. Some hazard 
attends the use even of carefully prepared phos- 
phorus pastes. 

Arsenic, in the form of Paris green or Lon- 
don purple is widely employed as an insecticide. 
It is comparatively cheap, but is by no means 
as deadly as phosphorus or strychnine. The 
smallest quantity known to have been fatal to 
a human being is 2.5 grains. Its action on ro- 
dents is exceedingly variable, and there is 
ample proof that rats after taking small doses 
frequently become entirely immune to its 
further effects. Moreover, it is likely to sour 



292 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

baits, and so prevent their being readily eaten 
by the creatures to be got rid of. 

Virtues of strychnine. Strychnine is one of 
four alkaloids obtained from nux vomica, the 
seed of a tree known to botanists as Strychnos 
nux vomica. The chief supply comes from the 
Malabar coast, India. It consists of colorless 
crystals or white powder, and of several salts, 
chiefly the sulphate and the nitrate, in needle- 
like crystals. On account of its solubility the 
sulphate is most convenient for poisoning small 
animals, and is the one which should always be 
used. Strychnine is very bitter, and to disguise 
this sugar, honey, or an equivalent of its weight 
in saccharine, is mixed with the powdered 
poison; but this is not required for rabbits and 
field-mice, which are accustomed to bitter foods. 

As a poison for noxious animals strychnine 
has several advantages over the others com- 
monly in use. It kills quickly, without the long 
tortures of corrosive poisons. It spite of its 
bitterness, baits containing it are rejected less 
often than those containing arsenic. If strych- 
nine is properly labeled and kept from children, 
it is less dangerous to have on the premises 



POISONING AND TKAPPING 293 

than most other poisons. Should strychnine 
be accidentally swallowed by an adult, antidotes 
are usually available, and by prompt action a 
fatal result may be prevented. 1 

Experiments by the Biological Survey show 
that strychnine, all things considered, is a 
cheaper poison than arsenic. Strychnia sul- 
phate may be purchased in bulk at about 75 
cents an ounce; white arsenic costs about 15 
cents a pound. An ounce of strychnine will 
thoroughly poison 60 pounds of wheat intended 
for field-mice; a pound of arsenic will poison 
only 10 to 12 pounds of the grain for the same 
purpose. The cost of preparing the 60 pounds 
of wheat, therefore, will be about the same with 
either poison; but more of that containing 

i "In ease of poisoning by strychnine an emetic should be 
promptly given — a teaspoonful of mustard in a glass of water 
(warm, if available). Another excellent emetic is zinc sul- 
phate (10 to 60 grains in tepid water) or apomorphine (4 
drops by hypodermic injection). A stomach pump cannot be 
used after the first few minutes. As soon as the emetic has 
acted, the patient should be put slightly under the influence 
of chloroform or ether, and kept so for several hours. He 
should be kept in a darkened room and away from noise of 
all kinds. Further treatment may be left to the physician, 
who should be summoned as soon as the poisoning is dis- 
covered."— U. S. Dept. Agr., Yearbook, 1909. 



294 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

arsenic is required to kill. Actual field experi- 
ments show that an ounce of strychnine, if 
properly distributed, is enough to kill 4,500 
prairie-dogs or large ground-squirrels, or 9,000 
field-mice. 

Various other poisons, both mineral and 
vegetable, have been used, but none is to be 
recommended as compared with strychnine, 
with the possible exception of barium carbonate 
as an agent for killing rats and mice about 
buildings. This mineral, which is cheap, has 
the advantage of being without taste or smell, 
and also that in the small doses fed to rats 
and mice it would be harmless to domestic ani- 
mals. Its action upon rats is slow, and if exit 
is possible, they usually leave the premises in 
search of water. 

Poisoning rats and house-mice. For the 
reasons above given phosphorus and arsenic 
are not recommended in poisoning rats and 
mice; although powdered white arsenic mixed 
with oatmeal and sugar, or made into a paste 
of 12 parts of cornmeal and one part of arsenic 
with whites of eggs, is often effective. 

Barium carbonate may be fed in the form of 



POISONING AND TRAPPING 295 

dough composed of four parts of meal or flour 
and one part of the mineral ; or of oatmeal with 
about one-eighth of its bulk of the mineral; or 
the barium may be spread upon toasted bread, 
etc. A small quantity- — say a teaspoonful — 
should be placed in the rat-runs, and repeated 
with change of bait until all the rats disappear. 
This is probably the best poison for use in 
dwelling houses. 

Strychnia sulphate is too rapid in action to 
make it advisable for use in our houses, since 
the animals die and decay in their holes in the 
walls and foundations, but for barns, ware- 
houses and outer premises generally it is the 
most effective agent. The dry crystals may be 
inserted in small pieces of raw meat, or toasted 
cheese, and these placed in the runs or burrows ; 
or oatmeal may be moistened with a strychnine 
sirup, and small quantities laid in the same 
way. 

Strychnine sirup is prepared as follows: 
Dissolve a half ounce of strychnia sulphate in 
a pint of boiling water; add a pint of thick 
sugar sirup and stir thoroughly. A smaller 
quantity of the poison may be prepared with 



296 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

a proportional quantity of water. In prepar- 
ing the bait it is necessary that all the oatmeal 
should be moistened with the sirup. Wheat 
and corn are excellent alternative baits, but 
must be soaked in the sirup over night. 

To use this poison in places occupied by 
poultry a good plan is to provide two boxes, 
one considerably larger than the other and each 
having two or more holes in the side, large 
enough to admit rats. The poisoned bait 
should be placed on the bottom and near the 
middle of the smaller box and the larger box 
inverted over it. Then fowls cannot get at it 
if they try. It must be remembered that old 
rats become very wise and wary, and much 
caution has to be used if you are to succeed. 

Poisoning field-mice. The most effective 
poison for the short-tailed field-mice is strych- 
nine. In the outbreak of these pests in Ne- 
vada, the best baits proved to be alfalfa and 
crushed wheat. An ounce of strychnia sulphate 
dissolved in 5 or 6 gallons of water will effectu- 
ally prepare 30 pounds of chopped dry alfalfa 
hay; or, with 1% gallons of water, will prepare 
45 pounds of green alfalfa cut into short 



POISONING AND TRAPPING 297 

lengths. The poisoned food is distributed near 
or in the mouth of burrows, a small pinch at a 
place, especially in cold weather, when the an- 
imals do not feed in the open. Green alfalfa 
bait should not be put out when the sun is hot. 

In the absence of alfalfa, crushed wheat, oat- 
meal and corn, among the grains, and seeds of 
various plants, as the tomato, dandelion, sun- 
flower and others, may be substituted. The 
bait should be soaked over night in a poisoned 
sirup, a quart of which is enough to poison half 
a bushel of grain. If after thorough mixing 
the solution is not sufficient to wet all the grain, 
add a little water. After standing over night, 
if the grain is too wet, a little dry corn-meal 
will take up the excess of moisture. If oat- 
meal is used as a bait, when the mass is wet 
throughout with the sirup, it may be used im- 
mediately. 

Because of the danger of destroying native 
birds, such as quail, the poisoned bait should 
be placed only under shelters which will admit 
mice but exclude birds. Wide boards lying 
upon thin cross-pieces of wood are excellent for 
the purpose. For pine mice baits may be 



298 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

placed in the underground tunnels. For other 
mice pieces of drain tile may be laid along the 
trails, and the baits inserted into the tiles with 
a long knife or spoon ; old tin cans with flattened 
ends or small openings are excellent substitutes 
for tiles. One trick of wolf-poisoners in Col- 
orado, was to make their strychnine pellets 
chiefly of lard so that if not eaten at night 
they would melt and soak into the ground, out 
of danger, in the next day's warm sun. 

Winter is the most favorable season for poi- 
soning field-mice, and the best time to set the 
poison is in the evening of a mild day. At that 
season cut small twigs or suckers from apple- 
trees, and either dip them in the strychnine 
sirup or apply the sirup to them with a brush. 
Scatter the poisoned twigs near the trees to be 
protected. This plan is excellent for either 
field-mice or rabbits, and it entirely obviates the 
danger of poisoning birds or domestic animals. 

Poisoning rabbits. Winter has proved to be 
the best time for poisoning rabbits, especially 
the western jack-rabbits, since there is no green 
food to attract them from the prepared 
titbits. Pieces of apple, carrot, sweet potato, 



POISONING AND TRAPPING 299 

melon-rind and the like are favorite baits. 
Crystals of strychnine sulphate are inserted in 
them and they are left along rabbit-runs, either 
on the ground or elevated on short sticks. Arti- 
ficial runs may be made in orchards with a drag 
or a one-horse scraper. Another excellent bait 
is oatmeal soaked in strychnine sirup. In any 
case the rabbits must be carefully fenced away 
from haystacks, or they may not eat the poi- 
soned bait. 

Poisoning prairie-dogs and ground-squir- 
rels. A few years ago the State of Kansas 
carried on extensive operations against prairie- 
dogs, destroying them almost completely over 
nearly 2,000,000 acres of thickly infested land. 
The poison was prepared at the State Agricul- 
tural College, and was sold to townships and 
individuals at cost, or the formula for prepar- 
ing it was given to citizens who asked for it. 
A modification was found necessary, however, 
when the mixture was to be used in large 
quantities and this was perfected by David E. 
Lantz, with the following result : For 1 gallon 
poisoned sirup, use — 



300 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

4 ounces powdered strychnia sulphate; 

4 ounces potassium cyanid; 

4 ounces green coffee; 

6 ounces alcohol; 

4 eggs (whites only) ; 

% gallon thick sugar sirup. 

Mix the coffee and whites of eggs, and let the mix- 
ture stand over night. Dissolve the cyanid of potas- 
sium in a little less than a quart of hot water, and 
let it cool before using. Prepare the sugar sirup 
previously, so that it is not hot when used. Pour the 
cyanid of potassium solution over the coffee-and-egg 
mixture, stir, and then strain into the mixing vessel 
through a sieve fine enough to hold the coffee, which 
is rejected. Add the sugar sirup and stir thoroughly. 
Dissolve the strychnia in a little less than a quart of 
boiling water. Pour the alcohol into this solution and 
stir. Then add the mixture of strychnine, alcohol and 
water to the contents of the mixing vessel and stir 
thoroughly. The strychnine will be precipitated by 
the cyanid, and when the poison is placed in a can 
and allowed to stand will settle at the bottom. The 
poison should be kept closely corked until used. 

A gallon of this poisoned sirup is enough to 
poison two bushels of wheat. Before it is 
mixed with the wheat it should be thoroughly 
stirred or shaken, and a few pounds of corn- 
meal added to make the sirup adhere to the 



POISONING AND TRAPPING 301 

grain. This preparation may be used immedi- 
ately. Another way is to add more water and 
leave the wheat over night to absorb the strych- 
nine. 

Green alfalfa or alfalfa hay for poisoning 
prairie-dogs should be chopped into short 
lengths and sprinkled with strychnine water or 
sirup until thoroughly wet. A large metal 
washtub should be used as a mixing vessel. 
An ounce of strychnia sulphate dissolved in a 
half gallon of water will prepare 30 pounds of 
green alfalfa; or the same quantity of strych- 
nine dissolved in 3 or 4 gallons of water will 
prepare 20 pounds of alfalfa hay. 

For the smaller ground-squirrels, use — 

1 ounce strychnia sulphate, 
35 pounds clean wheat, 

2 gallons water. 

Dissolve the strychnine in the water in a large mix- 
ing vessel. Then pour in the wheat and allow all to 
simmer for an hour, the vessel being covered. Stir 
occasionally. The water will probably be entirely ab- 
sorbed by the grain, but if not, a little corn-meal will 
take up the extra moisture. If preferred, the strych- 
nine may first be dissolved in a pint of boiling water, 
the ingredients then mixed in a large vessel, and all 



302 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

left over night to absorb the poison. Distribute the 
poisoned wheat, a half teaspoonful at a place, at the 
mouth of the squirrel-burrows; do not scatter broad- 
cast on account of the danger of killing birds. For 
the larger ground-squirrels reduce the quantity of 
wheat to 25 pounds and the water in proportion. 
Experiments in California in destroying the digger 
ground-squirrel (Clitellus beecheyi) with pieces of 
sugar-beets into which crystals of strychnia sulphate 
had been inserted with a knife gave good results ; and 
even better success has followed the use of poisoned 
barley-heads. 

Poisoning pocket-gophers. The pocket-go- 
phers are readily poisoned by strychnine, espe- 
cially in the late fall and early winter. Crys- 
tals may be inserted into pieces of potato, 
carrot, prunes or raisins, and inserted into the 
gopher tunnels several feet from fresh mounds. 
Any strong prod will answer to make the holes 
into which the baits may be dropped. These 
holes need not be closed. When the animals 
are in ditch-banks the tunnel should be fol- 
lowed by digging with a garden trowel from 
the freshest mound to the main runway, the 
bait left there, and the opening closed. Car- 
bon bisulphide is successful with gophers only 
when the soil is moist and packed. 



POISONING AND TBAPPING 303 

Poisoning wolves. The proper dose for a 
wolf is four grains of strychnia sulphate; for 
a coyote, two grains. Two sizes of gelatin 
capsules may be bought at drug-stores. Fill, 
cap, and carefully wipe each capsule to remove 
every trace of the drug from its outside. In- 
sert this filled capsule into a piece of beef- 
suet the size of a walnut and close the cavity. 
The baits should be carried in a can or pail, 
and not handled except with gloved hands or 
with forceps. They should be dropped from 
horseback along trails followed regularly by 
wolves, or along an artificial trail made by 
dragging an old bone or piece of hide well 
saturated with some fetid scent. Or they may 
be placed about a carcass on which wolves 
feed. 

Trapping rats and mice. The best of all 
traps for this purpose, are the cheap snapping 
wire traps called guillotine traps, because they 
catch the animal by the neck and choke the life 
out of it in a moment. Those made entirely 
of metal (see illustration on page 75) are bet- 
ter than those with a wooden base. 

Guillotine traps, according to Lantz, should 



304 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

be baited with small pieces of German sausage 
(Wienerwurst) or fried bacon. A small sec- 
tion of an ear of corn is an excellent bait if 
other grain is not present. The trigger wire 
should be bent inward to bring the bait into 
proper position to permit the fall to strike the 
rat across the neck. 

Other excellent baits for rats are oatmeal, 
toasted cheese, toasted bread (buttered), fish, 
fish offal, fresh liver, raw meat, pine nuts, 
apples, carrots, corn, and sunflower, squash, 
or pumpkin seeds. Broken fresh eggs are 
good bait at all seasons, and ripe tomatoes, 
green cucumbers, and other fresh vegetables 
are very tempting to the animals in winter. 
When seed, grain, or meal is used with a guil- 
lotine trap, it is placed on the trigger plate, 
or the trigger wire may be bent outward and 
the bait sprinkled under it. 

The old-fashioned barrel-trap may often be 
used to advantage. For several nights rats 
are tolled to food placed on the tops of barrels, 
or a barrel, covered with stiff brown paper 
tied over the top so as to not be displaced or 
break under their weight. Then two cross- 



POISONING AND TRAPPING 305 

slits are cut in the paper, through which the 
rats fall, while the corners spring back making 
a deceptive surface for the next visitor. One 
of many variations of this, is a barrel with a 





FORMS OF THE BARREL-TRAP FOR RATS. 

The one on the left is covered with stiff paper, sprinkled 
with bait (b), and so slit that the rats fall through, while 
the corners of the paper fly back into place. The one on the 
right has a tipping cover, resting on a cleat (a) at one side. 

top swinging on pivots which dumps a rat that 
leaps upon it, then rises level again. 

When a great many rats are known to have 
gathered in a certain place, as under an old 
corn-shock (perhaps left and baited for the very 
purpose) a wire fence may be thrown around 
it, the shock overturned, and the rats killed 



306 ANIMAL COMPETITOES 

by men and dogs as they come out into the 
enclosure. 

One man reports that he has made great 
catches with a wire-cage trap, which he sets 
inside of a wooden box having a hole in one 
end against which the hole in the baited cage- 
trap is fitted. The box is then covered with 
trash and left. Sometimes several get in at 
once; especially if a single rat is left in it, 
whose squealing attracts others. 

Large cage-traps, another advises, should 
be baited and left open for several 
nights until the rats are accustomed to enter 
them to obtain food. They should then be 
closed and freshly baited, when a large catch 
may be expected, especially of young rats. 

Trapping is a simple way to destroy field- 
mice, but it needs to be steadily and systemat- 
ically continued to be of much service. It has 
special advantages for small areas such as 
lawns, gardens, and vegetable or nursery pits 
and packing houses, where a limited number 
of mice are present, and wherever, for any rea- 
son, there are objections to the laying out of 
poison. As voles do not readily enter cage- 



POISONING AND TKAPPING 307 

traps, simple wire traps of the guillotine order, 
in which mice are instantly killed, are the 
most effective. 

Traps without bait may be set across the 
runs of the mice, where the animals spring 
them by coming in contact with the trigger, 
or they may be baited with oat or corn meal. 







7 



METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING A TIP-UP TRAP WITH A BOX. 

For trapping pine mice an opening should be 
made in the underground tunnel large enough 
to receive the trap, which should be set across 
the bottom of the runway. The traps may be 
baited or not, but the opening should be cov- 
ered. 

Traps for gophers. Trapping is a success- 
ful method when followed intelligently and 
persistently. It is especially adapted to small 



308 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

fields, orchards, gardens, and irrigation em- 
bankments, where only a few gophers are pres- 
ent; but in the case of large areas that are 
badly infested, the method involves too much 
labor. An ordinary No. steel trap may be 
employed with success, but there are on the 
market several special gopher-traps which are 
better adapted for general use. 




ONE FORM OF GOPHER-TRAP. 



In using the ordinary steel trap, the first 
step is to make an opening into the main go- 
pher tunnel. The trap should then be sunk 
so that the jaws are level with the bottom of 
the runway and lightly covered with green clo- 
ver, alfalfa grass, or even loose soil, care being 
taken that these do not clog under the pan, or 
trigger. No bait is required. The hole should 



POISONING AND TBAPPING 309 

be just large enough to receive the trap and 
should be covered so as almost to exclude the 
light. Scalding the trap frequently to remove 
the animal odor is important. 

"A few days' experience will teach one more about 
setting traps for gophers than pages of directions 
could. He must not be discouraged by failure at 
first, but vary the method of setting the trap until he 
learns the best way for his locality. While the 
method is somewhat slow, persistent trapping steadily 
decreases the pests until the last gopher on a farm 
may be captured. A correspondent of the Biological 
Survey writes that he caught 1,332 of the animals 
within 2 miles of his home. A friend of the writer 
in Kansas trapped 350 gophers on a 40-acre clover 
field in four months. A California newspaper stated 
that in the spring of 1901 a man near Watsonville, 
by using 52 traps, caught 233 in twenty-four and 
one-half hours. William Burniece, of Bowbells, N. 
Dak., trapped more than 1,500 gophers on his quar- 
ter section during a single year." 

Snares and Traps for Rabbits. — Babbits are 
easily trapped or snared, and few farmer-boys 
need instruction how to do it. An improve- 
ment upon the figure-four and similar traps 
is widely used in the West, and known by the 
name of its inventor, Fred Wellhouse, of To- 



310 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

peka, Kansas. This trap is a box of old six- 
inch fencing-boards, two feet or less long and 
10 inches square, closed at the back by a door, 
but in front by a wire door only, which hangs 
from the top and swings inward. The trap is 
set and the wire door is kept open by a wire 
trigger-rod, held in place by two staples fas- 
tened to the top of the box. This trigger is 
bent downward near the rear of the trap and 
formed into a loop or a figure eight. As the 
rabbit enters the trap and crowds into the 
back part, it pushes upon the loop, moves the 
trigger wire backward, and releases the wire 
door. This falls and makes the rabbit a pris- 
oner. Bait may be used, but is not necessary, 
since the cottontail is constantly looking for 
dark places to hide from enemies or cold winds. 
Mr. Wellhouse uses about three traps per acre 
in young orchards and many among the bear- 
ing trees. The materials needed are: Four 
boards 1 by 6, 21 inches long; one piece 1 by 6, 
8 inches long for the back ; a short cleat for the 
door stop ; 28% inches of wire to serve for the 
door; 22 inches of wire for the trigger; four 
small staples; and nails. 



POISONING AND TRAPPING 311 

Trapping the wary coyote. All agree that 
coyotes are not easily trapped, and what is 
said here can be regarded as only a suggestion. 
These pestiferous little wolves travel in pretty 
well-defined paths and usually hunt against 
the wind. Having a keen sense of smell, they 
easily detect the tracks of man, and if they 
have had previous experience of traps or 
guns they are suspicious of danger. 

The best No. 4 double-spring trap, with a 
heavy, welded wolf-chain, should be used. If 
the trap is to be fastened to a stationary ob- 
ject the chain should have a swivel at each end; 
if to a drag, such as a forty-pound stone (to 
which it must be attached with telegraph wire), 
one swivel next the trap is enough. Where it 
can be done it is a good plan to bind the trap- 
chain to a heavy pole lying on the ground, be- 
ing careful not to change its natural position. 
If the trap is anchored to a bush or small tree 
the chain must be securely fastened with snap 
or wire. A stout stake over which the ring 
will not slip, driven out of sight into the 
ground, is better. Every part of the trap 
and chain is covered, and the ground left in as 



312 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 

natural and undisturbed condition as pos- 
sible. 

Any kind of fresh meat will do for bait — rab- 
bits and other small rodents are often used, but 
larger baits seem to be more attractive. It 
is also of advantage after setting the trap to 
make a "drag" of the bait for a quarter to a 
half mile, at the end of a rope from the saddle 
horn, and finally to fasten it to a bush or stake 
close to the trap, or cut it in bits and scatter 
all around the trap, so that not all can be 
reached by the coyote without walking over 
the trap. The skill of the trapper and the 
situation of the trap will determine the best 
arrangement. The suspicion of the coyote is 
lessened apparently after following the bloody 
trail of a well-planned drag. 

Before setting the traps many trappers rub 
their feet and hands on a skin or some strong- 
smelling meat or carcass to conceal the human 
odor. Oil of anise or rhodium is sometimes 
used for the same purpose. Any strong 
odor is likely to attract the attention of the 
coyote and allay suspicion. Care must be taken 
not to spit on the ground or kneel or throw 



POISONING AND TRAPPING 313 

down any clothing in the vicinity of the trap. 
A good plan is to set a line of traps and leave 
them for a day or two, and then go the rounds 
with a horse and drag and bait the traps with- 
out dismounting. 



THE END 



INDEX 



American voles, 50. 
Antelope, 273 ; pronghorned, 

284. 
Arsenic, use of in destroying 

pests, 290. 

Bachman, Dr., 252. 

Badger, 263; badger burrows, 

265 ; prehistoric plowing, 

267; aids the farmer, 268. 
Bailey, Vernon, 96, 99, 157, 

238. 
Barabaschi, Dr. P., 42. 
Barium carbonate as a poison, 

294. 
Bats, 201; species of, 202; 

economic relations, 204. 
Beaver, 94 et seq. 
Belgian hare, 177. 
Bell, Dr. Robert, 123. 
Bighorn, 273, 383. 
Bison, 284. 
Black fox, 243. 
Blanford, W. T., 7. 
Bowen, George T., 82. 
Breeding foxes, 227; mink, 

259; skunks, 271. 
Bristoe, W. M., 187. 
Buffalo, 273. 



Bull-snakes, 188. 
Bush-rat, 101. ' 

Canadian fur-bearers, 243. 

Carcajou, 243. 

Caribou, 273. 

Chase, A. W., 103. 

Chipmunk, 144 et seq.; the 
burrow and its furniture, 
145; familiarity, 147. 

Construction, rat-proof, 28. 

Cotton-rat, 68, 105; habits, 
106. 

Coues, Dr. Elliott, 46, 260, 
266, 267. 

Coyote, 232 et seq.; character 
of, 233; beneficial food hab- 
its, 235; injurious food 
habits, 236; as a pest, 237; 
fencing against, 241 ; traps 
for, 311. 

Cultivation of muskrats, 89; 
of the mink, 258; of 
skunks, 270. 

Cummins, L. C, 187. 

Dancing mice, 38. 
Deer, 273 et seq.; native 
American, 273 ; capability 

315 



316 



INDEX 



of domestication, 275; rear- 
ing wapiti for profit, 276; 
rearing whitetail deer, 278. 

Deer-mice, 68. 

Doane, Prof. R. W., 23, 152. 

Enemies of rodents, 185. 

Elk, 273. 

Ermine, 242; his family, 245; 

habits, 250 et seq. 
Exterminating rodents, 191. 

Fencing against wild animals, 
240. 

Ferrets, 32. 

Fisher, 243. 

Flying-squirrel, 138 ; charm 
of, 140; family life of, 141. 

Fox, 206 et seq.; the kit-fox, 
206; gray fox, 208; arctic 
fox, 209; red fox, 210; 
value of fox fur, 212; vari- 
ability of the red fox, 214; 
fox farming, 214; area 
suited for, 215; arrange- 
ment of breeding quarters, 
216; form of enclosures, 
217; easy to keep, 220; food 
and feeding rules, 221; re- 
production and treatment 
of young, 224 ; importance 
of good care, 226; breeding 
for improved stock, 227; 
preparation of skins, 230; 
expectation of profit, 231. 

Fox-squirrel, 133; peculiari- 
ties of, 136. 



Fumigation of rodents, 190. 
Fur-bearing animals, 242 et 
seq.; Canadian, 243. 

Goat, Rocky Mountain white, 
284. 

Gopher, 112 et seq.; burrow- 
ing powers, 114; destruc- 
tive to crops, 117; enemies 
to orchards and forests, 
118; tap irrigating ditches, 
121; as soil makers, 122; 
traps for, 307. 

Gopher-snake, 189. 

Gray squirrel, 133; peculiari- 
ties of, 136. 

Ground-hog, 160. 

Hardy, Manly, 130, 132. 
Harvest-mice, 68. 
Hornaday, W. T., 287. 
Horses, wild, pest of, 280. 
House of the wood-rat, 99. 

Japanese jumping mice, 38, 

107. 
Jones, C. T., 287. 

Kangaroo rats, 107, 109. 

Lantz, David E., 6, 9, 10, 15, 
18, 48, 58, 80, 118, 192, 234, 
240, 253, 275, 299. 

Marten, 242; Canadian, 243; 
Pennant's, 243 ; stone-mar- 
ten, 254. 



INDEX 



317 



Meadow-mouse, 48 et seq.; 
common, 51 ; general habits, 
56; plague of, 58; preven- 
tion of plagues, 62 ; food of, 
65; damage from, 66; pre- 
vention measures, 68; pro- 
tection of orchards against, 
70. 

Merriam, Dr. C. Hart, 119, 
122, 197, 245. 

Mink, 242; life of, 254; value 
of, 256; trapping, 257; cul- 
tivation for profit, 258; 
care of, 260. 

Minkeries, 259. 

Mole-gopher, 113. 

Moles, 194; under the lawn, 
194; strength of, 196; 
methods of, 197; star-nosed 
mole, 198. 

Montgomery, F. U., 9. 

Moose, 273. 

Mountain goat, 282. 

Mouse, 37 et seq.; pantry- 
mouse, 37 ; meadow-mouse, 
48 ; Japanese dancing 
mouse, 38; prevalence of, 
40; carry bacilli, 41; musi- 
cal, 43; prairie mouse, 53; 
food habits, 55 ; wild habits, 
56; pine mouse, 53; deer 
mouse, 68; pocket mouse, 
68; harvest mouse, 68. 

Musk-hog, Texan, 282. 

Muskrat, 76 et seq.; mischief 
done by, 76; value of, 78; 
as a food, 80; recipe for 



cooking, 82; trapping, 84; 
preparation of pelt, 88; 
cultivation of, 89; possibil- 
ities, 90; suitable places 
and proper care, 91. 

Nelson, E. W., 66. 

Orchards, protection of 
against mice, 70; against 
rabbits, 173. 

Osgood, W. H., 213, 250, 269. 

Otter, 263. 

Peccary, 273. 

Pack-rat, 101 et seq.; thiev- 
ing propensities, 102. 

Pekan, 243. 

Pennant's marten, 243. 

Pantry-mouse, 37 et seq. 

Pest of wild horses, 280. 

Phosphorus, use of in destroy- 
ing pests, 290. 

Pine-marten, 242. 

Pine-mouse, 51, 53; food hab- 
its, 55. 

Piper, Stanley E., 60. 

Pocket-mouse, 68. 

Poisoning and trapping, direc- 
tions, 288 et seq.; waste of 
effort, 288; phosphorus and 
arsenic, 290; virtues of 
strychnine, 292 ; poisoning 
rats and house mice, 294; 
poisoning field-mice, 296; 
poisoning rabbits, 29*; 
poisoning prairie dogs, 299; 



318 



INDEX 



poisoning pocket-gophers, 
302; poisoning wolves, 303. 

Porcupine, 161. 

Prairie-dog, 153; dwellings, 
156; a serious pest prob- 
lem, 157; poison for, 299. 

Prairie-mouse, 51, 53. 

Preparation of fox skins, 230. 

Rabbit, 164 et seq.; excellence 
of flesh, 164; breeding hab- 
its, 166; injurious to gar- 
dens, 168; laws protecting, 
169; bounty on, 170; 
hunting, 171; protections 
against, 173; as pets, 177; 
hutches, 179; feeding, 181; 
directions for breeding, 183 ; 
traps for, 301. 

Rat, 3 et seq.; brown house- 
rat, 3; black rat, 4; habits, 
5; history, 6; fecundity, 8; 
cost, 10; destructiveness in 
fields, 12; destructiveness 
to poultry, 15; damage to 
buildings and stored goods, 
17; carriers of disease, 19; 
responsible for the plague, 
21; methods of suppression, 
26 ; rat-proof construction, 
28; keeping food from, 30; 
disposal of dead, 31; fOur- 
footed enemies, 31; co-oper- 
ation in subduing, 34; traps 
for, 303. 
Rat, cotton, 68. 



Recipe for cooking muskrat, 
82. 

Red-backed mouse, 53. 

Red squirrel, 126; home of, 
127; food of, 128; prepara- 
tions for winter, 131. 

Remedies for injured trees, 
175. 

Rodents, suppression of as 
pests, 184; foolish destruc- 
tion of their enemies, 184; 
weasel tribe best police, 
185; useful aid by birds, 
187; aid from serpents, 
188; poisoning and fumiga- 
tion, 189; flooding burrows, 
191; difficulty of extermina- 
tion, 191. 

Sable, 242. 

Salamander, 112. 

Serpents as destroyers of ro- 
dents, 188. 

Seton, Ernest Thompson, 47, 
110, 122, 253, 262. 

Shrews, 199. 

Skunks, 270; skunk farming, 
271. 

Squirrel, 125 et seq.; tree- 
squirrel, 125; red-squirrel, 
126; gray and fox squir- 
rels, 133; flying squirrel, 
138; ground squirrel, 144; 
squirrels and bubonic 
plague, 151. 

Spermophile, 148. 

Star-nosed mole, 198. 



INDEX 



319 



Striped gopher, 148, 150. 

Trade-rat, 101. 

Traps, for mink, 257 ; for rats 
and mice, 303; barrel trap, 
305; for gophers, 307; for 
rabbits, 309; for coyotes, 
311. 

Tree-protectors and washes, 
71. 

Trees, to protect from mice, 
70; from rabbits, 173; rem- 
edies for injured, 74. 

Texan mush-hog, 282. 

Vampire, 20. 

Vermin, directions for exter- 
mination, 288 et seq. 
Virginia deer, 278. 
Voles, American, 50. 



Wapiti, 273; raising for 

profit, 276. 
Water-rat, 76. 
Wash for protection against 

mice, 73; against rabbits, 

175. 
Weasel, 247; and chickens, 

248; as a mouser, 249. 
Weasels, enemies of rats, 32; 

and rodents, 242. 
White tail deer, 279, 
Wichita National Game Ref- 
uge, 286. 
Woodchuck, 160. 
Wood-mouse, 105. 
Wood-rats, 98. 
Wolverine, 243. 
Wolves, 232 et seq.; poison 

for, 303. 

Yerkes, Prof. Robert M., 39. 



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